Ziya remonstrates with the king and retires to Panxi

Now, when Ziya had looked over the plan, the king said, “How long will it take to finish the work on this terrace?” Jiang Shang replied, “This terrace is forty-nine feet high, with towers of jasper and palaces of jade, green balustrades and carved railings. The work would be vast. To finish the terrace would take no less than thirty-five years.” Hearing this, King Zhou said to Daji, “My royal wife, Jiang Shang tells Us the terrace will take thirty-five years to build. We think: time is gone in the blink of an eye, the years flow by like water, and youth is the time for pleasure. If it is to take so long — how long is a man’s life? How could We last so long? Building this terrace would be of no use at all.” Daji said, “Jiang Shang is a diviner from outside the world, and all he ever talks is a pack of lies. How could the work possibly take thirty-five years? He is insolent and deceives his sovereign — his crime deserves the burning pillar!” “You are right, my royal wife,” said King Zhou. “Call the officers in waiting! Seize Jiang Shang for Us and burn him on the pillar, so that the law of the land is upheld.” Ziya said, “Your servant begs to tell Your Majesty: the work on the Deer Terrace will wear out the people and squander the wealth of the realm. I beg Your Majesty to put this idea out of your mind; on no account must it be done. Now war has broken out on every side, flood and drought come one after another, the treasuries are empty and the people’s lives grow harder by the day. Yet Your Majesty gives no thought to the root of the state, nor nurtures for the common people the blessings of peace. Day after day you wallow in wine and women; you keep the worthy at a distance and the flatterers close; you throw the government into disorder and murder the loyal and good. The people complain and Heaven grieves, warning follows upon warning, and Your Majesty never once looks inward to mend your ways. And now you listen to fox-like wiles and recklessly start great works of building that will bring ruin on all the people. Your servant does not know how Your Majesty will end. Your servant has been favoured with Your Majesty’s recognition, and so he cannot but bare his red heart and open his very liver and, at the risk of death, lay this before you. If you will not listen to your servant, we shall see the old story of the Jasper Palace1 all over again. Alas for the altars of the state and all living folk — before long they will belong to someone else. How can your servant bear to sit and watch and say nothing?” At these words King Zhou cursed him roundly: “Churl! How dare you insult and slander the Son of Heaven!” He ordered the officers in waiting on either side, “Seize him for Us! Make mincemeat of his corpse and grind it to powder, so that the law of the land is upheld!” They were just stepping forward when Ziya turned on his heel and ran headlong down the tower. At the sight King Zhou was half furious and half amused. “My royal wife, look at this old churl! He heard the word ‘seize’ and ran away. He knows nothing whatever of propriety or the law — whoever heard of a man running away?” He sent down a command to the chamberlains: “Bring him here!” The officers chased Ziya past the Longde Hall and the Nine-Bay Hall. When Ziya reached the Jiulong Bridge, he saw them coming after him hard. “Officers,” said Ziya, “there’s no need to chase me. All it comes to is a death.” Pressing his hands on the railing of the Jiulong Bridge, he leapt down and punched a hole in the water. The officers rushed onto the bridge to look, but not so much as a bubble came up — little did they know that Ziya had got away by the water escape2. The officers in waiting went back to the Star-Plucking Tower to report. “The old churl got off lightly!” said the king.

Let us leave King Zhou. Now, after Ziya had thrown himself into the water under the bridge, four officers of the hall stood holding the railing, gazing at the water and sighing. Just then the Senior Counsellor Yang Ren came in through the Meridian Gate and saw the officers of the hall by the bridge, leaning over and peering at the water. “What are you looking at here?” asked Yang Ren. The officers of the hall said, “If it please you, my lord, Junior Counsellor Jiang Shang has drowned himself.” “Why?” said Yang Ren. “We don’t know,” answered the officers of the hall. Yang Ren went into the Office of Documents to read the memorials. But no more of that.

Now, King Zhou was discussing with Daji which official to send to oversee the building of the Deer Terrace. Daji said, “If this terrace is to be built, no one but Chong Houhu can bring it off.” King Zhou approved and sent an officer in waiting to summon Chong Houhu. The officer received the command, left the Nine-Bay Hall and went to the Office of Documents to see Yang Ren. Yang Ren asked him, “How did Junior Counsellor Jiang Ziya offend the king, that he drowned himself?” The officer answered, “The Son of Heaven ordered Jiang Shang to build the Deer Terrace, and what Jiang Shang said in reply went against the royal will. So the king ordered us officers in waiting to seize him, and he ran here and drowned himself. Now Chong Houhu is summoned to oversee the work.” “What is this Deer Terrace?” asked Yang Ren. The officer answered, “It is from a plan Lady Su presented: forty-nine feet high, with towers of jasper and palaces of jade built on top, halls and pavilions with double eaves, balustrades built of agate and beams and pillars adorned with pearls and jade. Now Chong Houhu is ordered to oversee the building. Your humble servant sees that everything the Son of Heaven does follows the way of King Jie, and I cannot bear to see the altars of the state turned to rubble. So I have come specially to see you, my lord. If you, my lord, in your loyalty, will remonstrate and stop this building work, you will save all the people from the misery of hauling mud and carrying earth, and spare the merchants the ruin of losing the money they have staked. That would show a counsellor’s heart that loves and nurtures all the living folk of the realm, and your fame would be spread abroad for generation after generation.” When Yang Ren had heard this, he said to the officer, “Hold back this summons for now. Wait until I have been in to see His Majesty before you carry it out.” Yang Ren went straight to the foot of the Star-Plucking Tower to await the royal command, and King Zhou summoned him up into the tower. “What have you to report, minister?” said the king. Yang Ren said, “Your servant has heard that this is the way to govern the realm: the sovereign is clear-sighted and his ministers upright; their words are heeded and their counsel followed. Tutors and guardians are employed, the loyal and good are kept close, and the wicked and flattering grow more distant every day. Peace is kept with foreign states and the people’s hearts are followed; rewards for merit and punishments for crimes are all as they should be. Then all within the four seas obey and the eight quarters look up to the sovereign’s virtue. When benevolent government reaches the people, all under heaven follows it like a shadow and the people delight in their work. That is how a sage ruler acts. But now Your Majesty trusts the words of a consort and will not hear loyal counsel, and you are building the Deer Terrace. Your Majesty knows only pleasure and merriment, songs and dances, feasts and diversions — making joy for one man and sorrow for ten thousand families. Your servant fears that Your Majesty will never get to enjoy this pleasure, but will first have a sickness in your very belly and heart. If Your Majesty does not set things in order at once, your servant fears that Your Majesty’s sickness will be past curing. My sovereign faces three dangers without and one within. Hear your servant, Your Majesty. The three dangers without: the first is Jiang Wenhuan, Lord of the East, with a million fierce troops, bent on avenging his father. At Youhun Pass the fighting never rests; again and again our army’s might is broken; three years of bitter fighting have spent all our money and grain, and provisions grow harder to find by the day. That is the first danger. The second is E Shun, Lord of the South. Because Your Majesty put his father to death though he was guiltless, his great host of men and horses attacks Sanshan Pass day and night, where Deng Jiugong, too, has fought hard for many years; the storehouses are empty, and soldiers and people have lost hope. That is the second danger. The third: what is more, Grand Preceptor Wen has been far away in the North Sea fighting a great foe for more than ten years. Even now he cannot come home; victory and defeat are not yet decided, nor good fortune or ill. Why must Your Majesty listen to slander and slaughter upright men? Fox-like wiles you are bent on trusting and following; honest words you set aside and never heed. Every day petty men draw nearer to the sovereign; every day one hears of gentlemen withdrawing. The palace has lost all bounds between inner and outer, and eunuchs in sable and gold3 throw the inner palace into disorder. The three dangers rage, and the eight quarters rise in rebellion. Your Majesty will not tolerate the officials who remonstrate and bars the way of the loyal and upright; and now you start this senseless building besides, earthworks and timber on every side. Not only will the altars of the state never be made secure, nor the ancestral temple stand firm as a rock — your servant cannot bear to see the people of Zhaoge ground into the mud and ashes like this. I beg Your Majesty to halt the work on the terrace at once, so that the people may be content in their work; then perhaps there is still one chance in ten thousand of saving things. Otherwise, once the people’s hearts have turned away, all the people will fall into chaos. The ancients said, ‘When the people rebel, the state is broken; when the state is broken, its ruler perishes.’ What a pity it would be if six hundred years of order over Chinese and barbarians alike were seized by others in a single morning!” When King Zhou had heard him out, he cursed him roundly: “Churl! You scribbling bookworm, how dare you in your ignorance offend your sovereign with such blunt words!” He ordered the chamberlains, “Gouge out this churl’s eyes! In view of his service in years past, We will spare him this once.” Yang Ren spoke again: “Your servant does not shrink from having his eyes gouged out. My only fear is that the lords of the realm will find the pain of my gouged eyes more than they can bear.” The chamberlains helped Yang Ren down from the tower. A sound rang out, and his two eyes were gouged out and brought up into the tower. Now, Yang Ren was loyal and righteous to the core, and all he did was truly for King Zhou’s sake. Though both his eyes had been gouged out, his loyal heart did not die, and a blast of grievance rose from him and shot straight up before the True Lord Qingxu Daode4 in the Purple Sun Cave on Mount Qingfeng. The True Lord understood at once and ordered the Yellow-Turbaned Strongman, “Go and rescue Yang Ren and bring him back to the mountain.” The strongman received the command and came to the foot of the Star-Plucking Tower. He sent three gusts of divine wind; a strange fragrance filled the air below the Star-Plucking Tower, the ground threw up dust and sent sand and ash flying, there was a loud crack — and Yang Ren’s body had vanished. King Zhou hurried inside the tower to escape the sand and dust. Before long the wind died down and the sand settled, and the attendants reported to King Zhou, “Yang Ren’s body has been blown away by the wind!” King Zhou sighed. “It is just like the time before, when We were beheading the crown prince5 and he too was blown away by the wind. Such things happen all the time; they are no cause for wonder.” King Zhou said to Daji, “We have already issued Our summons to Chong Houhu for the work on the Deer Terrace. Yang Ren remonstrated with Us and brought his punishment on himself. Summon Chong Houhu at once!” The attending officer went off to hurry the summons.

Now, the strongman carried Yang Ren’s body off to the Purple Sun Cave and reported back to the True Lord on his sacred command. The True Lord Daode came out of the cave and ordered the page boy Baiyun to take two pills of immortal elixir from the gourd and put the two pills into Yang Ren’s eye sockets. Then the True Lord blew the true breath of the Former Heaven on Yang Ren’s face and cried, “Yang Ren, if you don’t rise now, when will you?” Truly, the wondrous arts of the immortals can raise the dead to life! Out of Yang Ren’s eye sockets grew two hands, and in the palms of the hands grew two eyes — eyes that could look up into the courts of Heaven, down into the caverns of the earth, and, in between, see into all the affairs of the world of men. Yang Ren stood up. After a long while, when he had collected himself, he saw that his eyes had been changed into a strange form, and that a Daoist stood in front of the mountain cave. “Reverend sir,” Yang Ren asked, “can this be the netherworld?” “No,” said the True Lord. “This is the Purple Sun Cave on Mount Qingfeng, and this poor Daoist is the True Lord Qingxu Daode, a qi-refiner. I saw your loyal heart and red-blooded courage: you remonstrated boldly with King Zhou in pity for all the people, and suffered the calamity of having your eyes gouged out. I pitied you, for your allotted years among the living had not yet run out, and so I brought you up the mountain. Later you will help the King of Zhou to accomplish the true Way.” When Yang Ren had heard this, he bowed and thanked him: “Your disciple owes it to your pity, True Lord, that he was rescued and guided back to life to see the world of men again. How could I ever forget such kindness and such goodness? I beg you, True Lord, do not cast me off: I wish to bow to you as my master.” So Yang Ren made his home on Mount Qingfeng, waiting only for the day when he would come down the mountain to break the Plague Formation6 and help Ziya to accomplish his task. There is a poem that says:

But no more of Yang Ren, who settled there in peace. Now, King Zhou summoned Chong Houhu to oversee the building of the Deer Terrace. The work on this terrace was vast. It took endless money and grain and endless labourers to haul timber, earth, bricks and tiles, and the misery of that unbroken stream of toil was beyond counting. In every province, prefecture and county, among soldiers and common folk alike, two men were taken from every household of three, and where a household had only one, he had to go. Those with money bought their way out and stayed at home; those without were worked until they dropped dead. All the people were terrified and had no peace day or night; men and women were in a panic, soldiers and common folk groaned and complained, every household shut its doors, and people fled in every direction. Chong Houhu, relying on his power, abused the people. Poor souls, old and young, were worked to death past counting, and all of them went to fill up the Deer Terrace. Zhaoge was thrown into turmoil, and a great many people fled.

Now, Ziya left the Song family manor and took the road for Mengjin. He crossed the Yellow River and went straight on to Mianchi County, heading for Lintong Pass. There he came upon a crowd of people who had fled from Zhaoge, seven or eight hundred common folk: fathers weeping as they led their sons, younger brothers grieving for elder, husbands and wives in tears. The sound of men and women wailing filled the road. Seeing them, Ziya asked, “Are you people from Zhaoge?” Some among them recognized Jiang Ziya, and the people cried out, “Lord Jiang! We are from Zhaoge. King Zhou is building the Deer Terrace and has put Chong Houhu in charge of it. That Heaven-cursed villain takes two men from every household of three, and where there’s only one, he has to go; those with money buy their way out and stay at home. Tens of thousands of labourers have been worked to death, and their bodies fill up the ground beneath the Deer Terrace; there’s no rest day or night. We couldn’t bear such suffering, so we fled, to get out through the Five Passes. But the commander, Lord Zhang, won’t let us out through the pass. If we’re taken back, we’ll die a cruel death — that’s why we’re weeping.” Ziya said, “There’s no need for this. Let me go and see Commander Zhang and put in a word for you, so that he lets you out through the pass.” The people thanked him: “This is heavenly grace from you, my lord — sweet dew shed on us all, dry bones brought back to life!” Ziya left his bundle with the people to watch over and went alone to Commander Zhang’s residence. A servant asked, “Where are you from?” Ziya said, “Be so good as to announce me: Jiang Shang, Junior Counsellor of the Shang capital, has come to call on your commander.” The gatekeeper went in and reported: “If it please you, my lord, Jiang Shang, Junior Counsellor of the Shang capital, has come to call.” Zhang Feng thought, “Junior Counsellor Jiang Shang has come to call… He is a civil official and I am a military one; he is close to the court, while I keep a frontier pass. I may need his help in all sorts of things.” He quickly told his attendants to show him in. Ziya was dressed as a Daoist, not in his official robes. He went straight in to see Zhang Feng. When Zhang Feng saw Ziya come in Daoist robes, he stayed in his seat and asked, “Who are you?” “I am Jiang Shang, Junior Counsellor,” said Ziya. “Why do you come in Daoist robes, Counsellor?” asked Zhang Feng. Ziya answered, “Your humble servant has come on no other business than the sufferings of the people. The Son of Heaven is not clear-sighted. He listens to Daji and has begun building on a vast scale: he is raising the Deer Terrace and has put Chong Houhu in charge of the work. Who would have thought that man would oppress and abuse the people, greedy for bribes, without a care for their strength? What is more, on every side the troops have yet to lay down their burdens; Heaven above sends warnings, flood and drought come out of season, the people cannot make a living, all under heaven has lost hope, and the common folk suffer — and the poor soldiers and common folk worked to death fill up the terrace. There is debauchery without measure; wicked ministers bewitch the Son of Heaven, and fox-like wiles cunningly stop up His Majesty’s ears. He ordered me to oversee the building of the Deer Terrace. How could I deceive my sovereign and ruin the state, harm the people and squander their wealth? So I remonstrated bluntly. The Son of Heaven would not listen and meant to punish me instead. By rights I should have repaid the favour of my rank and stipend with my death; but Heaven’s reckoning for Shang had not yet run out, and I was graciously pardoned and sent home to my native place. That is how I came to your district. By chance I came upon a great many common folk, leading their sons and pulling their daughters along, helping the old and holding the young by the hand, wailing in their misery. It was heartbreaking to see. If they are taken back, they fear the burning pillar and the scorpion pit, cruel punishments and wicked laws that maim their limbs, grind their bones to powder and destroy their souls. Pity the people, dying though guiltless, their ghosts full of grievance at the wrong done them. Now that Shang has seen it, his heart truly pities them. So, putting my shame aside, I have come to wait on Your Honour, and I earnestly beg you to grant these people leave to go out through the pass, so that the common folk may pass from death to life. That would truly be a kindness, General, as high as heaven and as wide as the sea — truly the virtue of Heaven above, which loves life.” When Zhang Feng heard this, he flew into a rage. “You are a wandering charlatan,” he said. “Riches and rank fell into your lap overnight, and instead of thinking how to repay your sovereign’s grace, you try to lead me astray with clever words. Besides, these runaways are disloyal. If I listened to you, you would trap me into disloyalty too. I have been commanded to hold this pass, and it is only right that I do my full duty as a subject. These runaways make light of the law and do not keep the rules of the state; by rights they should be arrested and sent under guard to Zhaoge. I thought that if I simply didn’t let them through the pass, they would naturally go back home — so I had already left them a thread of a way to live. If we went by the law of the land, I would send you back to court under guard along with them, to uphold the statutes of the state. But since this is our first meeting, I’ll let it go for now.” He shouted to his attendants, “Throw Jiang Shang out!” With a shout the attendants shoved Ziya out, his face burning with shame.

When the people saw Ziya come back, they asked, “Lord Jiang, will Lord Zhang let us out through the pass?” Ziya said, “Commander Zhang was ready to arrest me too and take me into the city of Zhaoge. I did put in a word for you.” Hearing this, the people all cried out in despair together. Seven or eight hundred common folk wailed and wept bitterly, and their lament carried across the fields. Ziya could not bear the sight. “Don’t weep, all of you,” said Ziya. “I’ll get you out through the Five Passes.” Some of the common folk, who knew no better, thought when they heard this that he was only comforting them, and said, “You can’t get out yourself, my lord — how are you going to save us?” But those among them who knew begged him, “If you will save us, my lord, it will be like giving us life again!” Ziya said, “Those of you who want to get through the Five Passes: at dusk, when I tell you to shut your eyes, shut them. If you hear the wind roaring in your ears, don’t open them. If you open your eyes, you'll fall and dash your brains out — don't blame me.” The people agreed. At the first watch of the night Ziya bowed toward Mount Kunlun and murmured a spell, and there was a loud crack. In that moment Ziya carried all the people to safety by the earth escape. All they heard was the whistle of the wind. In no time they had covered four hundred li, out through Lintong Pass, Tong Pass, Chuanyun Pass, Jiepai Pass and Sishui Pass, to Jinji Ridge. There Ziya ended the earth escape, and the people came down to the ground. “Open your eyes, everyone!” said Ziya, and they opened their eyes. Ziya said, “This is Jinji Ridge, beyond Sishui Pass, in the land of Xiqi. Go on your way, and go safely!” The people kowtowed and thanked him: “My lord, it is like Heaven sending down sweet dew to save all living things. When can we ever repay such kindness and such goodness?” And the people took their leave. But no more of that.

Now Ziya went off to the stream to live hidden away. There is a poem to prove it:

Now, the people waited for daylight, and they were indeed in the land of Xiqi. Past Jinji Ridge came Mount Shouyang; they went over Mount Yan, passed Bailiu Village and came on to Mount Qi, and seventy li beyond that they reached the city of Xiqi. The people went into the city and looked about them. The people prospered and goods abounded; travellers on the road made way for one another, the old and the young were never wronged, and in the markets all was modest and courteous. Truly, here was a sky like Yao’s and a sun like Shun’s, a world quite unlike any other. The people drew up a petition and delivered it to the residence of the Senior Counsellor, and San Yisheng received it. The next day Bo Yikao sent down his orders: “Since these runaways from Zhaoge have come over to our land because of King Zhou’s misrule, give silver to those without wives so that they can marry. Give them all silver besides, so that they can rent lodgings and settle in peace. Widowers, widows, orphans and the childless12 are to have their names entered at the Sanji Granary and draw their rations there.” Yisheng received the order. Yikao said, “Father has been a prisoner at Youli for seven years. I mean to go to Zhaoge myself and redeem his crime in his place. What do you think, ministers?” San Yisheng said, “Your servant begs to tell you, young lord: our lord’s parting words were that when his seven years of trouble were over and his misfortunes had run their course, he would come home of himself. You must not act rashly and go against our lord’s parting words. If your heart is uneasy, young lord, you might send a soldier to ask after his health; that would not fall short of a son’s duty. Why must you ride off yourself and put yourself in danger?” Bo Yikao sighed. “Father is in trouble, held for seven years in a strange land with none of his own about him. How can a son’s heart bear it? What they call founding a state and founding a family would be nothing but an empty show — what use would we be, his ninety-nine sons? I shall take the three treasures handed down from our ancestors myself and go to Zhaoge to offer them as tribute, to redeem my father’s crime.” Would Bo Yikao’s journey end well or ill? To learn what happened next, read the next chapter.