Original subtitles

♫ Raising the wine cup, I toast to the boundless sky. ♫

♫ In talks and laughters are vast mountains and rivers. ♫

♫ Love and hate, debt and feuds, have all dissolved. ♫

♫ Where's my soul's hometown and my kindred spirits? ♫

♫ Seasons rolling by, we dream for harvest. ♫

♫ Warriors and warhorses howl across the sky. ♫

♫ If only I could turn into the wind, ♫

♫ to blow away all the pain in mortal coil. ♫

♫ I toast to the blue sky, to courage in solitude, ♫

♫ to migrating gooses, to boats heading home. ♫

♫ With even three thousand days and nights, ♫

♫ Will it be enough to drain this cup I toast to peace? ♫

[Swords into Plowshares]

[Episode 13]

Minister,

you have a guest.

Qian Hongchu of Wuyue pays respects to Lord Feng.

Minister.

Please rise.

Thank you, Lord.

Sun Taizhen of Wuyue pays respects to Lord Feng.

You've gained some weight.

My shame. Thank you for your protection, Lord.

The grace is deeply engraved in my heart,

and I will never forget it.

Please sit down.

Brew tea.

Minister, please sit.

Tomorrow,

I must accompany His Majesty and leave the capital.

Considering that,

I may not be able to return again,

so before departing,

I came to visit you.

Leave the capital?

That Khitan emperor wants to force you to go to the north?

Not really "force".

Now I'm the Grand Tutor,

my rank is high.

Anyone else can stay,

but I cannot.

The whole world cherish your virtue.

If you do not wish to go, even if it's the Khitan emperor,

can hardly force you, right?

I have submitted to him.

Isn't it laughable?

Submitting to him,

I was actually extremely unwilling.

After all,

my former lord still there and my feel uneasy in my heart.

Lord,

do you truly still care about that?

Why wouldn't I care?

Three generations of the Qian family of Wuyue,

served Liang, served Tang, served Jin.

All were choices made by you yourselves.

Would you not care that?

One must be responsible for his own choices.

To be fair,

I have not been treating Yelü Deguang well.

Even if he has failed the world,

he have never failed me.

But now he is leaving.

If I stay,

for whom would it be?

If you goes north this time, unless the Khitan ruler passes away,

Lord Feng, you will never be able to turn your back on him.

In my lifetime,

since Emperor Zhuangzong,

I have served six emperors.

Now this is the seventh.

In my youth, reading the admonition records,

I considered Wei Wenzhen an exception.

Four former rulers passed away successively,

and he finally assisted Emperor Taizong of Tang,

achieving the Zhenguan era of good governance.

Now it's my turn.

I have also seen five lords pass away.

Yet, I still cannot even glimpse

the shadow of a peaceful era.

Sang Guoqiao,

seldom see big affairs through in his whole life,

but he said one thing right.

Being young,

is truly wonderful.

[Shi Chonggui]

Ruan.

Your Majesty.

The Grand Tutor is too old for hardships of the march.

Moreover, leaving home for a distant destination, this journey must be hard to him.

Go and tell him this departure is only temporary.

By this winter month, I will surely allow him to return to take charge of Bianliang.

Yes.

I simply can't accept this.

If the Shatuo people can become the Central emperors,

then we Khitan people

surely also can!

In April 947 AD,

Liao Taizong Yelü Deguang, found it hard to govern the Central Plains due to fierce resistance.

He was forced to abandon Bianliang and return north.

He died suddenly on the way in Luancheng.

In June,

Liu Zhiyuan, Emperor Gaozu of the Later Han, who had already declared himself emperor in Taiyuan,

led his army southward and smoothly entered Bianliang.

The Southern Tang envoy Xu Xuan,

presents a state letter on behalf of my lord to the Great Han Emperor,

to establish friendly relations.

Summon Qian's enovy.

Where is the Wuyue envoy Qian?

I, Qian Hongchu of Wuyue, humbly welcome Your Majesty.

Come closer, Qian from Wuyue.

Was it you who plotted to assassinate Zhang Yanze?

In the capital, those who wished to kill the traitor Zhang were not me alone.

It's truly wonderful to be young.

My edict:

The Qian clan of Wuyue has governed the state with propriety,

diligently performed tributary duties, pacified the people and governed the army,

and is meritorious to the populace of the southeast.

Grand Marshal Qian Hongzuo is promoted to Grand Tutor and Secretariat Director.

Qian Hongchu, currently Acting Minister of Works, is promoted to Right Guard General,

with honors equal to the three Commissioners, and is granted state credentials.

On behalf of my king, I kowtows in gratitude for Your Majesty's grace.

Order all armies to encamp outside the city.

Post proclamations to pacify the people.

Exempt the prefectures and counties of the capital region from grain taxes for three years.

Understood.

From military supplies, allocate each six million liters of millet and wheat, and six hundred thousand liters of seed grain

to Kaifeng Prefecture,

to relieve refugees and prepare for spring plowing.

Understood.

This is an old debt I owe the common people of the capital.

Long live Your Majesty!

Is Lord Feng alright?

Yelü Ruan, Prince of Yongkang, and the Yelü Licha, Younger Prince in Shangjing, have developed a rift.

The two nearly resorted to arms.

Yelü Wuzhi has been shuttling between the two, acting as mediator.

At that time, Lord Feng stopped in Zhenzhou.

Your Majesty let Lord Feng return to the capital to handle governance.

What a pity.

You are returning home so early.

It has been over eight months since I left.

My family and people are eagerly waiting for me.

Hongchu, before you return, if you have any unfulfilled wishes,

Just say them.

Both I and Kuangyin are here in the capital.

Jungui, is now the General of the Left Gate Guard, and the Imperial Military Secretary.

Marshal Guo holds the esteemed position of Military Commissioner.

Father and son, are both glorious.

Though my rank is low, words not significant, I'm full of strength.

Hongchu, if you have wishes, feel free to tell us.

There are indeed two matters that I must trouble you two with.

Just say them.

Since my adulthood ceremony I have not had a courtesy name.

I only have Huzi as my childhood name.

Lord Feng is a great scholar of our time with abundant knowledge.

When he returns to the capital, please request a courtesy name for me from him.

That's easy.

If someone else sought a name,

given his temperament,

he might not be willing to give.

But if it's you,

Lord Feng would surely regard you with special respect.

And the second matter?

This second matter,

however, is not easy.

I only wish

that the next time I come to the capital,

I can drink

a cup of warm wine in a peaceful time.

We will,

drink to that!

Drink to that!

Drink to that!

Drink to that!

A storm is coming. Let's return to the cabin.

These past few months,

feel like many years.

[Ninghai, Taizhou]

[Shen Yin, courtesy name Huzi, Constable of Ninhai County]

Yin.

[Shen Congyue, Prefect of Taizhou] Why must you be like this?

Prefect.

There's no paper.

Search his body.

What kind of future on earth did that mad dog Cheng Zhaoyue promise you?

All the clan, three hundred and sixty-one people,

officials with rank in the bureaucracy, one hundred and eighteen people,

and countless clerks and petty officials,

over a thousand lives in total,

are sold for a mere few sheets of paper.

Are you even a human?

Fire,

won't be wrapped in a paper.

Yin,

you are too naive.

The world is in turmoil.

This fire has been burning for nearly a hundred years.

How can it be changed by these mere few sheets of paper?

How many are there?

[Fang Hongjin, Clerk of Ninghai County, Taizhou] There are two hundred and sixteen deeds in total,

[Fang Hongjin, Clerk of Ninghai County, Taizhou] from the sixteen nearby villages.

[Chen Xing, Registrar of Land of Ninghai County]

Too few.

It's no small matter.

No family wants to get involved.

These over two hundred deeds were offered by families who lost their land.

They only agreed to hand them over after being promised two seasonal loans at ten percent each.

Thank you for your effort.

Unworthy descendants, falling victim to powerful officials,

have lost most of their ancestral property.

We have not repaired the ancestral temple for ten years, shaming our ancestors.

I do not deserve your thanks, Registrar.

Grandfather, someone's outside!

Extinguish the lamps!

It's an emergency.

Sorry for the trouble, Registrar.

Take care!

But why go to such lengths?

The Fang family has been law-abiding for generations,

[Du Hao, Commissioner of Land of Taizhou](left) making a living from the land.

[Gao Xu, Magistrate of Ninghai County, Taizhou](right)

Cheng Zhaoyue,

is a merchant who rose by luck,

a lowly villain.

Why must you

entangle yourselves with him?

Magistrate Gao, you are the son of a meritorious official. How dare my humble family defy him?

I just wonder how much of our paddy fields remains now.

Does the Ninghai Fang family still have a livelihood?

They are all our neighbors in the village.

Mind your actions.

Do not let them suffer.

[Ninghai County School, Taizhou]

Keep an eye here.

I'll go to call for help.

[Cui Renji, Doctor of Ninghai County School]

Chen!

Chen!

Chen!

Renji...

Chen!

ji

I'm here.

What's going on?

Who could have done such a cruel deed?

Court...

Commander Cheng...

King...

Deliver this item to Hangzhou, and let Commander Cheng to present it to the Great King?

Chen!

We've drifted off course?

This isn't the sea near Mingzhou.

With such a great storm, drifting a few hundred li off course is not unusual.

It shouldn't be too far.

Judging by the direction of the sun,

Mingzhou should be to the northwest.

Here is probably near Taizhou.

Either Ninghai or Linhai.

[Ninghai County, Taizhou]

I, Doctor of the Ninghai County School,

Cui Renji, pay respects to you, Prefect and Governor.

By the order of the prefecture office, I'm here to apprehend Chen Xing,

accomplice in the rebellion case of Sun Ben and Dai Yun.

There is no such person here.

Your name is Cui Renji?

Yes.

When did you begin your official career?

I began in the first year of Kaiyun to serve as Doctor of the Ninghai County School.

How much are the annual funds and provisions for the school?

Each season we receive six hundred liters of rice, ten pieces of fish and dried meat each,

one dou of salt, and twenty strings of coin and silk each.

Is it sufficient?

The county school currently has thirty-six students.

They are just barely enough.

If you hand over this person, I will allocate from the prefecture

a thousand of liters of rice and five hundred strings of coins and silk each annually to you.

How about that?

I truly have not seen this person.

This person is severely injured, trail of blood ending a hundred paces outside the school.

If he didn't come here,

then where did he go?

I don't know.

Reporting, we have thoroughly searched here.

We didn't find him.

Where are the attendents?

Bring all the attendants here for questioning.

Yes.

Report!

Deputy Military Commissioner of Zhendong Army, Commander of the Imperial Cavalry and Infantry

Judge of the Supreme Command of Military Forces, Shuiqiu Zhaoquan,

Deputy Envoy for New Year’s Greetings, General of the Right Guard Secretary Director, Qian Hongchu,

have returned.

Their boat anchored in Zhang’an Harbor,

and a messenger was sent to welcome them.

I, Prefect of Ninghai County, Gao Xu, pay respects to you, Lord Shuiqiu.

Enough. Spare the formalities.

I truly did not know that you and the Ninth Prince were arriving in Ninghai.

We did not originally plan to come to Ninghai.

But we were caught in a storm at sea and utterly exhausted.

We are just stopping ashore to rest.

We’ve put you to a lot of trouble preparing in such haste.

It was my duty..

Sit down, just spare those formality.

Thank you, Lord Shuiqiu.

My family has received the state's grace for generations.

It is my duty to welcome your arriving in Ninghai.

It's my honor,

and also Ninghai's honor.

If I can have the fortune of meeting the Ninth Prince this time, is truly...

The sea was stormy.

Ninth Prince

has caught a touch of dampness and is feeling a bit fatigued.

He is resting in the stern cabin now.

It is by no means an intentional slight to you this local magistrate.

I wonder if it's serious?

I will summon the doctors in the county...

No, no, nothing serious.

Young men are strong.

He'll be fine after some rest.

[Ninghai Rice and Fish Market] You are, after all, a Qian scion, and a deputy tribute envoy.

The county governor came to see you, yet you hide away.

Don't you worry about your reputation if this is known?

OK that's enough.

Just have some.

I haven't tasted such fresh flavor over half a year.

Don't you carve it?

To have a bowl of warm wine and a piece of fish to eat in peaceful days,

such a life was a luxury beyond the reach of countless people

when we were in the north.

Ambitions and great strategies are for Jungui and Kuangyin to consider.

Just let them two to pursue them,

and to strive for peace for the common people.

I have always been a fisherman with no great aspirations.

Having a bowl of warm wine to drink will satisfy me.

In Bianliang,

everyone says you are a towering hero,

always standing up for the people.

I listened in a daze,

about impassioned, fiery version of you.

I cried for several times secretly.

Was that really you?

Or is this lazy, listless one right now the real you?

Guess.

Home is best.

No need for me, this lazy fisherman to become some great hero, standing up for the people.

Jungui, Kuangyin,

Lord Feng, Minister Sang.

They yearn for struggle desperately yet cannot attain peace.

Yet in Wuyue, there's no need to fight for it.

Now is the peaceful time.

You call this a peaceful time?

Young man, are you joking?

What?

Is Wuyue not peaceful now?

Those who toil in the field all day,

are forced to go to sea.

They risk their lives to make a living in storms and waves.

Those unwilling to go to sea,

either rent others' fields,

toil all year long, yet still cannot achieve warmth and fullness;

or are burdened with loans from the Shanyue House,

with interest compounded,

not knowing for how many generations they can ever repay it.

Young man, you call this a peaceful time?

Aren't you joking?

How rude you are!

It's fine.

Sit down.

A catty of fresh fish counts as two tokens!

A catty of polished rice counts as two tokens!

A catty of dried fish counts as one token!

Ten catties of fine firewood count as one token!

A catty of shrimp and crab counts as two tokens!

A catty of fresh fish counts as two tokens!

A catty of polished rice counts as two tokens!

A catty of shrimp and crab counts as two tokens!

A catty of dried fish counts as one token!

A catty of fresh fish counts as two tokens!

A catty of shrimp and crab counts as two tokens!

What's wrong?

Ten catty of kindling wood...

Nothing.

counts as one token!

Let's go.

A catty of dried fish counts as one token!

A catty of fresh fish counts as two tokens!

A catty of polished rice counts as two tokens!

So you are an official from the Western Prefecture.

I was disrespectful.

Forgive me, sir.

Apprehending criminals?

Sir, this is an order from the prefecture to arrest rebellious traitors.

There are also traitors in our Wuyue?

Sir, these are remnants of Commandant Dai and Sun

who caused trouble in the Western Prefecture years ago.

It is said they have somehow hidden themselves

at the Haiyou Town Land Office, and served as registrars.

Fortunately, we have Magistrate Gao, who is astute and discerning.

That's how his identity is exposed and he fled overnight.

Now, both the county and the prefecture have issued strict orders,

determined to capture him and punish him according to the law.

Step aside.

Thanks for your trouble.

[Ninghai County, Taizhou]

Got something on your mind again?

No, I'm not.

My mother used to say,

the minds of you men can sometimes be more narrow than the eye of a needle.

You are always talking big things like how a man should have the whole world in his heart.

But when something actually crops up, you get all tangled up in it, and never give a straight answer when asked.

How infuriating!

Women in this world like my dear mother-in-law are after all as rare as phoenixes.

What nonsense are you talking?

Who is your mother-in-law?

When she sent you here,

she made everything perfectly clear.

Now, if you expect me to send goods back—

over my dead body!

Who’s a piece of "goods”!

The sea breeze is the most refreshing.

Take your time and enjoy yourself.

I’m off to rest first.

During the day, my mood was somewhat dampened,

but it wasn't because of what the fisherman said.

Wasn't it?

I saw that after hearing his words,

you became absent-minded.

I thought something he said had offended you.

What offense is there?

I was born into a noble family and enjoyed luxury since childhood.

The peaceful era I envisioned and what the fisherman envisioned were never the same thing.

I do have some concerns, but not about the fisherman's words.

It's about the rice price.

Rice price?

Remember that clerk at the rice shop?

The bamboo slip in his hand is called a rice token.

Anyone who wants to buy rice must first exchange their money or valuables for these tokens

and then use them to purchase rice.

One token can buy one liter of brown rice.

Before we left last year, in Hangzhou's market, a catty of fresh fish could buy five liters of brown rice.

But now,

it can only buy two liters.

So,

you are worried about the risen rice price?

But,

are five liters and two liters so different?

How different?

I reckon it’s the difference between living in a peaceful time and not.

When my grandfather founded the state here many years ago he left a maxim

not inscribed on bamboo slips but passed down only among descendants:

Rice price below three, peace prevails in this land;

Rice price above five, living is like facing a tiger.

It's about rice price.

Back in the Zhenguan era of Emperor Taizong of Great Tang the price of rice in Chang’an was roughly

five coins for ten liters.

That was the age of peace that Jungui spoke of.

Now the whole world is plunged into chaos.

Last year, fifteen coins could still buy five liters of rice.

But now,

they can only buy two liters.

This means a world without good governance, living is like facing a tiger.

Zipan.

Mr. Cui.

Be careful on your way there.

Yes sir.

Ninghai Renji pays respects?

No need to see it.

A blank sheet of paper with nothing on it.

Then what does this mean?

This Doctor of Ninghai County School

Cui Renji, summoned with a blank paper.

He himself did not come.

Instead, he had his student deliver it.

There must be something unspeakable that he wishes to tell me face to face.

Then let's go to him.

Are you sure? Inside there was only a blank sheet of paper?

I saw it clearly.

That letter was never sealed.

Inside there was only the blank paper.

On the envelope were only "Ninghai Renji pays respects."

Considering there might be something written in rice water, I heated it over a flame,

but no words appear on both the letter paper and the envelope.

This Cui Renji from Ninghai County School...

what exactly is he plotting?

Ninth Prince.

What is it?

Ninth Prince. Shen Congyue, Taizhou Prefect, arrested the Ninghai County Constable Shen Yin last night.

He is from the Shen family of Wuxing.

The current Taizhou Governor, Shen, is his uncle.

He is the nephew of the Ninghai Prefect, yet he was arrested?

Exactly. It is said he was involved in the rebellion of the Third Prince.

He was originally Prefect of Muzhou.

Later, because of Dai and the Third Prince's case,

he was first demoted to an offical in Taizhou, then to the Ninghai Constable.

It's getting more and more interesting.

They have entered the city to the county school?

Yes.

Commander Liu leading the way said that.

Governor!

Everyone, go down.

Governor!

If Chen Xing is at the county school right now, then we...

Don't panic.

We cannot wait for death.

Go to the county school immediately and stay with Shuiqiu and the Ninth Prince.

Keep an eye on that Cui Renji to prevent him from speaking nonsense.

And this item.

What exactly has happened?

According to the Governor and Prefect,

he is implicated in the rebellion of Marshal Dai and the Third Prince.

Utter nonsense!

It's a case three years ago.

If he was truly implicated, why wait until today to act?

As Chief Registrar of the Land Office, a low-rank official,

yet pursued jointly by the prefecture and the county,

even his life in danger.

Wuyue is not the Central Plains.

How dare they be so utterly insane?

Because of this.

Is this the deed for the autumn tax payment?

Yes.

The key point is right here, Xinmao Day, September ,the fourth year of Kaiyun.

September?

But now it's June.

The grain tax collection just started a few days agp.

the time should be June.

Yet here on the deed, it’s marked as September.!

Xinmao Day, September, is the final deadline each year

for the autumn tax collection.

This tax deed

has a notorious name among the people and local office,

called,

"Collect First, Measure Later."

Collect First, Measure Later?

According to the Two-Tax System, for the autumn grain tax, the principle should be "measure first and collect later".

But what he just said was "Collect First, Measure Later."

Indeed.

If every household across the Twelve Prefectures

holds such a deed,

then the lands of Wuyue will be of little difference from that Bianliang we saw.

You are right.

The "Collect First, Measure Later" is bringing doom to the state.

Gao Xu, Governor of Ninghai County, has come to serve the you, Prince, Lord.

Dismount!

Step back!

I am the Governor of Ninghai County.

Sir, how should I address you?

Military affairs. You should not ask, I should not speak!

My fault coming here rashly.

Would you be kind enough to report my visit, sir?

Yes.

Have your folks discard their weapons and squat on both sides of the road.

Last year, in both summer and autumn,

Mingzhou, Taizhou, and Wenzhou, these three prefectures

suffered four consecutive storms.

The King issued a clear decree:

The three afflicted prefectures, shall be exempted grain tax for two years.

So,

that means this year,

there should have been no grain tax, and no such deeds at all.

What a pity.

If Registrar Chen were still alive,

these deeds would be ironclad proof

that the prefecture and county officials colluded with local tyrants

to defy imperial decrees, oppress the people, and embezzle wealth for themselves.

But he's dead.

Then?

Since he died,

these deeds become single evidence.

Now, this matter involves a Governor, an Land Commissioner,

and a Prefect.

Based solely on this, it is absolutely impossible to arrest and charge them.

Chen probably never thought they could be arrested and charged immediately.

He always intended to send the evidence to the capital to be investigated.

At the moment of his death, Chen Xing,

only mentioned Cheng Zhaoyue.

That clearly shows

he did not trust the central authorities.

Once we the secret is disclosed, it will surely bring shock.

Cheng Zhaoyue, as a mere merchant with no base of power here, is instead someone to trust.

If I were this Mr. Chen, I would also think so.

Lord Shuiqiu is an important minister of the state.

You can report directly to the King to have this case investigated.

If we can't get answers on this case today,

and it takes a round trip to the capital, delaying for three to five days,

I'm afraid we will no longer get the answer.

Over for a few mere tax deeds here,

someone dared to kill a Registrar of the Land Office

right at the gate of the county school.

This is enough to show that they have laid all their cards on the table and are desperate.

They'd do anything for their own lives.

Give them just another three or five days,

and they'll clean up

every last trace of their misdeeds.

I'm afraid by then, we won't be able to find anything.

So Lord Shuiqiu, you mean,

if we investigate today, we can still find something out.

♫ Across tens of thousands of miles strech towering mountains. ♫

♫ Across tens of thousands of miles run surging rivers. ♫

♫ Across tens of thousands of miles cry warhorses. ♫

♫ Across tens of thousands of miles there are emotions unspoken. ♫

♫ Across tens of thousands of miles, flowers are blooming along the road. ♫

♫ Across tens of thousands of miles, gooses are returning to the north. ♫

♫ Across tens of thousands of miles, we stand through storms. ♫

♫ Across tens of thousands of miles, we hope for a safe return. ♫

♫ Tens of thousands of miles is not enough, ♫

♫ for a lifetime's sorrows and joys. ♫

♫ Tens of thousands of miles is not enough, ♫

♫ for the endless seas and rivers. ♫

♫ Across tens of thousands of miles, ♫

♫ love will overcome all barriers. ♫

♫ Across tens of thousands of miles, ♫

♫ we are together in life and death. ♫

♫ Across tens of thousands of miles. ♫

♫ Across tens of thousands of miles. ♫

♫ Across tens of thousands of miles, ♫

♫ the moon shines in the boundless world. ♫

♫ My heart has its hometown to return. ♫

♫ Across tens of thousands of miles, ♫

♫ who is the one crossing the waves with me, ♫

♫ with our hearts unrepentant, through countless lifetimes. ♫

♫ Across tens of thousands of miles, ♫

♫ oceans and lands witness that♫

♫ the world will be safe and sound. ♫

♫ Across tens of thousands of miles, ♫

♫ my heart is unchanging. ♫