by Yan Lianke
While dreamwalking, they enacted a historical scene of the emperor attending to governmental affairs. Half a month earlier, a theatrical troupe had come to the town to perform the palace operas Saving General Yang and The Cases of Judge Bao, and now the costumes from those operas were put to a very important use. In particular, the town mayor wore the emperor’s robes, while the deputy mayor wore the prime minister’s robes. The emperor’s robes were embroidered with a dragon and phoenix, with gold borders and sleeves as wide as pants legs. Both the emperor’s and the prime minister’s robes had gold borders and a red waistband. Meanwhile, the clothing of the empress dowager and the various imperial concubines was studded with jade ornaments that sparkled in the light. Periodically, there would be the sound of jade striking gold. That night, the town government’s entire entrance hall and meeting room were transformed into an old-style imperial court. In addition to the mayor and deputy mayor, all of the other county cadres followed convention and wore either military or civil robes. The county’s former messengers and cooks were effectively promoted and dressed as officials and eunuchs. Their clothing was magnificent and resplendent with jewels. The lamps were burning brightly, and a row of red lanterns was visible in the doorway. The workers who had previously been responsible for cleaning the town government building had now become officials who stood in the entrance hall next to the ministers and held up signs reading SILENCE! The former announcers from the town government’s broadcasting station were now empresses, princesses, and palace ladies responsible for fanning the emperor. The atmosphere was one of solemn silence, and apart from the look of exhaustion in everyone’s eyes, all the faces had an expression of curiosity and enchantment as people struggled to stay awake. They were like people who, every night before going to sleep, made an effort to listen to something, watch something, or do something. The court officials and military officers knelt down in front of the mayor-cum-emperor, who was sitting on his throne, in front of a gold-edged, engraved table that would be used in the palace drama. On the table, there was a large imperial jade seal wrapped in yellow silk. The seal was placed in the center of the table, and on either side of the seal were a pen holder, a writing brush, and a small teacup with a lid. The palace ladies brought the mayor some bird’s nest and white fungus tonic soup. Somewhat annoyed, the mayor looked at his bowl of soup, then raised his arm slightly, motioning for the palace ladies to retreat. “You should speak. It is not possible to resolve all of the world’s problems simply by bowing.” The mayor’s intonation sounded exactly like that of an emperor. He spoke slowly, and sounded slightly annoyed. The prime minister and court officials glanced up at him, and saw that he was lifting his bowl of soup to take a sip. Knowing that the emperor was in a peaceful state of mind, they set aside their worries. The emperor said, “Everyone sit down, and after you have done so, you can each report to us, one after the other.” With this, the prime minister, cabinet ministers, and military officers all stood up, bowed deeply to the emperor, ceremonially flapped their sleeves, and loudly expressed their gratitude. Then, they all stood or sat in front and on either side of the emperor.
“Who will speak first? Perhaps the prime minister could speak first? Please tell us what you investigated during your trip to Jiangnan this past month.”
The deputy mayor quickly came forward, bowed deeply, and ceremonially flapped his sleeves. “Zha! . . . Thanks to his majesty who, in his infinite royal graciousness, sent your humble servant south for over a month. Your servant passed through Shandong and Xuzhou, and then took a boat down a canal through a band of cities, from Nanjing to Wuxi, Yangzhou, and Suzhou, all the way down to Hangzhou. Wherever I went, it was always undercover, and I never inconvenienced anybody. Everywhere I went, I found peace and prosperity, and there was no one who did not express the utmost gratitude to the emperor, shouting, ‘Long live the emperor! Long live, long live the emperor!’”
When the emperor heard this, he waved. “This is the same old thing. These are the same things as always.” However, as he said this, he had a smile on his face, and there was a gleam of delight in his eyes. “But these words still need to be spoken. Transportation from Beijing to Jiangnan is not very convenient. It is a long and arduous journey if made on foot, and even on horseback it takes over a month, and is difficult and exhausting. I grant you a vacation for you and your family, to go to the Chengde Summer Palace for a holiday retreat.” He waved again, and gestured for the prime minister to step back. The mayor then gestured to the officers standing on either side of him. “Governor Li, it has been several days since you returned from the frontier. Please report on the conditions there. Please tell us about the condition of the people living there, together with the miserable life on the border.” Deputy Director Li Chuang, from the town’s department of armed forces, stepped forward and ceremonially flapped his sleeves. Then he knelt down, and looked up. His voice was as sonorous as a drum.
“Thanks to his majesty who, in his infinite royal graciousness, sent your humble servant to the northwest, to survey the frontier. Three years ago, the frontier was undergoing the ravages of war. There was one military engagement after another, and people could barely make a living. Everywhere I went, I saw countless people who were starving or victims of natural calamity. Often people would block our way to beg for food and water. The Xiongnu living along the frontier would repeatedly attack. At night, they would steal and pillage, and during the day they would loot and capture. During harvest season, they became particularly unruly, and riding their horses and armed with bows and arrows, they would burn, pillage, rape, and kill. As a result, those living along the frontier found that they could no longer rely on cultivating the land, and experienced severe food shortages—to the point that many of them ultimately had to abandon their fields and their homes, and relocate to the interior. But after your majesty sent me out there, I followed your directives, and attempted to bring peace to the outer regions before turning to the interior ones. We defended the frontier and waged a series of furious battles. There was not a single battle that did not result in casualties and injuries, but our soldiers did not flee a single time. Instead, the entire army fought as one, as everyone preferred to die on the frontier rather than retreat. I led the charge, trying to ensure that when the enemy soldiers arrived, they would be blocked, just as when the floods arrive we build embankments to contain them. During the battle of Qilian Mountain, I was wounded three times by arrows, but even with my injuries, I still charged ahead. For three days and three nights, I did not dismount from my horse, and my knife never left my hand. I ate on horseback and slept in the saddle. In the end, we managed to defeat the enemy, and forced the Xiongnu to retreat more than a hundred twenty li. Following this battle of Qilian Mountain, the war of the northwest was broken wide open, and afterward we were able to win every battle. Conversely, the enemy lost every engagement, and continually had to retreat. As a result, the northwestern territories were finally restored to the interior, and the region was again at peace. The residents of the frontier could move back and resume cultivating the land, and enjoy the pleasures of home and hearth. Currently, the entire band of territory covering Shanxi, Gansu, Ningxia, and Mongolia is at peace. There was a bumper harvest, the nation and the people are at peace, and industry is prospering. Throughout the northwest, whenever members of any other nationality see a Han general or soldier, they immediately kneel down to you and your army, and shout, ‘Long Live’ three times. Whenever I return to the court, I must ask to pay obeisance to your majesty from all the different peoples, and offer wishes of ‘Long Live, Long Live, Long Live!’”
This long directive from the deputy director of the department of armed forces was extremely eloquent and forceful, and when the other officers heard it they were speechless. They were astonished that the deputy director of this tiny office, who was a twelfth-generation descendent of Li Zicheng, could be such a talented orator. Even the town mayor was delighted, and the deputy mayor stared in admiration. The other town c
adres in charge of the economy, administration, and education were all leading ministers in their own right, but when they observed the eloquence of that official from the department of armed forces, they felt ashamed of their own inferiority. They knew that the mayor would definitely favor this cadre, and were concerned that he would be promoted to a position of section chief, or deputy mayor charged with overseeing the public order, or even of military governor in charge of guarding the frontier. As all eyes remained fixed on this frontier governor dressed in his boots and military attire, the cadres heard the town mayor-cum-emperor begin to laugh. He stood up and walked toward the table, then turned, walked back, stood next to the throne, and moved the imperial seal that was sitting on the table.
“Governor Li, your civic achievements and martial strategies are excellent, you are virtuous and talented, and you have achieved your objectives in defending the border. These past three years the Xiongnu also admired you from their hearts, and sent tributes every year. To ensure that the imperial government will remain in order, and that the rewards and punishments will be strict and impartial, I hereby decree that you be promoted to the position of general governor, with authority over military affairs and border skirmishes in the northwest and the northeast, as well as Yunnan and Taiwan, Guangdong and Guangxi, and other border regions.” With a smile, the emperor looked over the civil and military officials assembled in front of him, then he let out a deep sigh. It was as though he finally felt safe now that all matters under heaven were in harmony and at peace. “Do the ministers of education and civil administration have anything further to report?”
The ministers of education and civil administration looked at each other, whereupon the minister of civil administration stepped forward, flapped his sleeves, and bowed on one knee. “Your humble minister has one item to report, but doesn’t know whether it is appropriate or not?”
“Speak.” The emperor gazed down at the minister, just as a scout on patrol might gaze at a commoner complaining about injustice he had encountered. “Today I am in an excellent mood as I hold my morning conference, so you are welcome to say whatever you wish.”
The minister of civil administration stood up and gazed at the emperor, then he turned and looked at the two rows of officials standing on either side.
“This summer the citizens blessed by the heavenly grace of the emperor have enjoyed ten thousand li of bountiful harvest. The ears of wheat are as large as ears of millet. But recently the royal astronomer sent an urgent message, reporting that in three days there would be a torrential downpour, and that it would continue to be overcast for at least half a month or a month, and the rain will completely flood most of the land under our jurisdiction. If we don’t quickly harvest the remaining wheat, I’m afraid that most of it will end up rotting in the fields, leading to a catastrophic winter without grain and starving people throughout the region. Based on the royal astronomer’s projection, our realm may currently be stable and at peace, and the people may be celebrating, but beneath this surface peace there lies a great calamity. I know that the emperor is prepared for danger in times of peace, that you see the future as an immortal, and preemptively that everyone should work through the night harvesting grain and storing it in a warehouse, after which all should help combat the floods by building embankments and securing the villagers’ houses, so that when the flood does arrive, the people won’t be caught unprepared and taken by surprise. That way, the people won’t be left destitute, the region’s hidden instabilities will not be triggered, and catastrophe can be avoided. I hope that the emperor will consider my humble advice.”
After the minister of civil administration finished, he again ceremoniously flapped his sleeves and bowed, while peeking up at the town emperor. The emperor seemed displeased but didn’t say anything. Instead, he merely yawned and appeared annoyed. As a result of this, the minister of civil administration looked uneasy, and was about to launch into a searing self-critique when suddenly, at that moment—at precisely that moment, the same way that during an opera performance, just as the performance reaches a climactic point, the performance shifts to another story—one of the sentries stationed outside the palace came rushing in and stood in front of the ministers assembled before the emperor. He quickly performed the ceremonial flapping of his sleeves, then announced:
“Reporting to the emperor, outside the palace there are a couple of troublemakers who have forced their way in, and your humble servant was not able to prevent them from entering. They insisted on seeing you in person, and claim that even though outside the city there is abundant grain, the peasants continue to harvest the grain through the night, as though they were dreamwalking. Meanwhile, in the city, some people have taken advantage of the fact that everyone else is either sleeping soundly or dreamwalking, and have begun stealing, pillaging, and killing people. In short, everything is in chaos, and the dynasty is on the verge of collapse. Please indicate whether or not you are willing to see these troublemakers.”
The mayor glanced over at the sentry. “Can you confirm that they are both troublemakers?”
The sentry rubbed his sleepy eyes. “They definitely are. They are the father and son who run the town’s funerary shop, and sell spirit money to burn at funerals. They sell money for the dead, in order to make money for the living.”
The emperor looked away from the sentry, and cast a cold glance at the minister of civil administration, who was reporting on hidden disasters. He gazed coldly, then snorted. Finally, he looked over at Li Chuang, the military governor of the frontier region as well as the deputy director of the department of armed forces. “Governor, you are needed to help resist external aggression and maintain internal peace. Go outside to take a look . . . To all of those who do not respect our court, who bring false charges against our nation, claiming that we are not prosperous or at peace, I have just one word: Execute!” When General Li heard this, he was left speechless. He looked away from the ministers, and left the palace with the soldiers serving as sentries.
In his position, the deputy director of the town’s department of armed forces, who was already in his thirties, was charged with maintaining the peace and handling petitions. He had been doing this for more than ten years. During that time, he had groveled while privately nursing a grudge, but continued to hold only a deputy position. Now, his opportunity had finally arrived, and he strode toward the outer gate of the town government courtyard.
The town government building was not located in the liveliest part of town, but rather was in the far northeast corner. In front of the main entrance, there was a pair of solitary Republican-era stone lions, and the gun turrets located at the four corners of the compound were also still there. The six-story stone staircase was also still there. Clouds floated by overhead, casting shadows onto the earth. All of the town’s streetlamps were extinguished, but the lamp in front of the main entrance to the town government courtyard was illuminated. As a result, in the middle of the night, the town government compound was different from the village streets, and the government buildings were different from ordinary people’s houses. Father and I both waited at the outer gate of the town government’s Forbidden City. As we were waiting at the entrance of the town government compound for the sentry to return, someone approached us from behind. It was an old man who was dreamwalking. He had dry hair and missing teeth, and when he closed his mouth it left a depression in his face. He was one of the town’s lowly officials, who relied entirely on petitioning the government for food and money. He was seventy-two years old, and had already been petitioning the government for eighteen years. Whenever he didn’t have any money, he would go to petition for redress, and after the government gave him a bit of money, he would turn around and head home. Whenever he didn’t have enough to eat, he would go to petition, and after the government gave him a bit of rice and flour, he would eat and drink in town and then return home. When the old man wasn’t petitioning, the town would be peaceful, but he continued to petition month after
month, and year after year. In another instance, his son died in one of the county’s factories, but the factory claimed that his son actually died from some illness. When the factory didn’t offer the father any compensation, he went to petition. Later, when no one offered him any support for the elderly, he went to petition. On this night of the great somnambulism, Father and I assumed this old man had come to bring charges of injustice and to petition for redress while dreamwalking, but as he walked by me, his eyes appeared yellow under the lamplight and he was muttering something that was only half-intelligible. He nevertheless had a bright, muddy smile.
“In the future, I will no longer petition for redress. I will no longer petition.
“In the future, I will really no longer petition for redress. I will really no longer petition.”
As he mumbled, layer upon layer of smiles appeared on his face. After Father asked him why he would no longer petition for redress, Li Chuang—who had been charged with suppressing external aggression while also internally keeping the peace—emerged at the entrance. Li Chuang was wearing the type of uniform a military officer would typically wear in a traditional opera. He was marching in a military fashion, and was speaking as though he were asleep and dreaming. He appeared at the entrance to the town government compound and stood on the stone steps, gazing down at Father and myself standing below him. Before Li Chuang could speak, however, the old man stepped up to him.
