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 34]

Your Majesty.

Now, the Yellow River's Golden Embankment in Chanzhou, is to be completed soon

The Marquis of Taiyuan, Guo Rong,

has rendered great service to the state and brought benefits to the common people.

He should be recalled to court

to assume a major responsibility.

Your Majesty, Chanzhou borders Yexia

and is a key location in Hebei.

It's garrison commander should not be changed lightly.

Your Majesty,

Minister Wang's words are gravely mistaken.

In the military, rewards and punishments are paramount. Merit must be rewarded.

Unclear rewards and punishments lead to disaster.

According to Minister Wang's words, the generals of Yexia,

even if they achieve the greatest merits, would spend their entire lives risking their lives in the army,

unable to leave.

If so, what would become of military morale?

It's merely a stretch of embankment.

Minister Fan Zhi,

you exaggerate.

Your Majesty,

The great river's Golden Embankment has not been repaired since the time of Later Tang's Zhuangzong.

This has led to annual floods.

In the sixth year of Tianfu, the capital region was flooded. The water level reached four feet from the capital's walls.

People were displaced, with countless casualties.

[Li Gu, Commissioner of the Three Fiscal Agencies] Now,

[Li Gu, Commissioner of the Three Fiscal Agencies] the Marquis of Taiyuan has rebuilt the Golden Embankment.

[Li Gu, Commissioner of the Three Fiscal Agencies] This year's summer flood

[Li Gu, Commissioner of the Three Fiscal Agencies] no longer posed a threat from the great river.

For twenty years, the capital has not dared to open its gates during the summer flood season.

Such merit

cannot be compared even to conquering a state.

You yourself have managed waterworks for over a decade,

so you consider flood control the foremost achievement under heaven.

If the Marquis of Taiyuan is rewarded today,

then tomorrow,

how should the Emperor reward you?

I am tired.

Ministers,

you may leave.

We respectfully see Your Majesty off.

Regarding Feng Dao's proposal today,

were you aware of this in advance?

Yes.

Then why didn't you tell me earlier?

Because of this, I faced such embarrassment in court.

If I had told you, would you have refrained from opposing it?

Well...

This... this empire is yours.

If you insist and issue an edict ordering Rong to return directly,

Could I... could I have stopped you?

Yes.

I do oppose that

Rong become the heir.

But that doesn't mean I object to his return to the capital.

The one who must be Emperor is you, not me.

Jun,

now you remember I am the Emperor.

Do you usually think of that?

You wanted to be in charge,

I let you be in charge.

You wanted to appoint officials,

I let you appoint them.

You were already Chief of the Privy Council, and still wanted to be Chancellor.

I let you become one.

You keep saying

this empire belongs to my family.

Where is my family?

Do I have a family?

A family with one hundred and sixty-eight people!

Men and women, old and young, servants and maids,

all together, one hundred and sixty-eight lives,

died, and covered in blood.

You say this empire is my family's.

Where is my family?

What is so good about being Emperor?

Can it compare to having parents, a wife, and children?

Emperors usually call themselves 'the Solitary One'.

I, this Emperor, am the widowed, orphaned, solitary, and lonely one.

Look through the history books, Jun.

Has there ever been an Emperor as desolate as I?

All of you, a few old comrades,

one Lady Dong, and one Rong,

you are all I have left.

Since you mentioned Rong,

then today, I won't address you as Your Majesty.

Wei,

I urge you one more time.

You have not yet reached the age of the Lord of Taiyuan back then.

Hurry and take more consorts.

You must leave behind a biological son who can inherit the throne.

It's true that,

Rong is a good boy.

But in his veins,

he carries the surname Chai, not Guo.

Do not think it is the same.

From the very root, it is a different matter.

The affair of Tang's Mingzong was not so long ago.

The warning is clear before us.

You must see this clearly.

Do not let a few sweet words from a junior cloud your judgment.

This realm is your family's, it belongs to the Guo lineage.

It cannot be ceded to those named Chai.

Do you understand?

The empire, the realm...

What use are they to me?

My wife is gone, my son is gone, my daughter is gone, my son-in-law is gone too.

All gone.

What use is a jade seal or an imperial robe to me?

Wei.

Wei.

Being a soldier, living on rations...

I was born to endure hardship and toil.

But that should not have involved my family.

Wei.

You're drunk.

Go and rest now.

I will now

take my leave.

Lord.

His Majesty is drunk.

Take good care of him.

Do not let him catch a chill.

Understood.

Your Majesty.

Kuangyin.

Originally, you were to follow Rong to Chanzhou,

but I kept you here to serve in the Imperial Guard.

I may have hindered your path.

I dare not think so.

Wherever I serve, it is in your service.

You and your father,

are both in the Imperial Guard.

Father and son fighting side by side...

It is just like that.

I kept you here,

because I know

you and Rong are just like brothers.

Brotherhood is good.

As long as there is no strife,

they can even hunt tigers,

and break metal.

I wish to trouble you

to take a message to Rong.

Tell him,

I would like

he go back home for a meal.

From the time he joined the army,

Zhao Kuangyin had seen many princes in armor, bearing swords.

But he had never seen a prince like Guo Rong, wearing dark work clothes, covered from head to toe in mud.

This sole heir of the Later Zhou Emperor

spent his days toiling and sweating on the worksite, repairing and dredging.

For years, the endless strife between military governors and the frequent change of regimes

left governments with no will to maintain river works.

Consequently, the people living along the Yellow River

suffered yearly from floods threatening cities, destroying homes and drowning fields.

This river, which nurtured the heartland of the Central Plains dynasties,

incessantly posed a question of conscience to every ruler of these dynasties.

Your Majesty,

I am aged and plagued by illness.

I beg to retire and return to the woods in my old age.

I implore Your Majesty to grant this request.

My lord, you are a statesman of four dynasties with great prestige,

the head of the court,

the pillar of the state.

The world has been torn by disorder for so long.

For even a moment,

we cannot be without you, my lord.

If you speak of retiring,

I too wish to retire.

But it is merely a wish.

We

must all work hard and bear our duties.

My lord.

Your Majesty.

Rong.

I'm here.

From this day forward, you are relieved of your duties on the riverbank.

You will enter the Secretariat-Chancellery to learn state affairs.

Lord Feng has long served at the imperial court, his prestige profound.

You must treat him as your teacher.

I obey the decree.

Your Majesty,

the Secretariat-Chancellery is the pivotal organ of the court.

Appointing the right people is the foremost task.

Fan Zhi and Li Gu don't have enough seniority and prestige, and neglect their royal duties.

They fail to assist the Emperor in pacifying the realm, or steady the officials and govern the land.

I request to send Fan Zhi out as Prefect of Xiangzhou

and Li Gu out as Prefect of Xuzhou.

Replace them with Hanlin Academician Chen Guan and Acting Prefect of Kaifeng, Yan Kan,

to participate in government affairs

I humbly request Your Majesty to grant your approval.

Jun,

today is the Cold Food Festival.

All government offices are meant to observe a day of rest.

Could anything be so urgent

that it cannot wait until tomorrow?

Your Majesty.

Jun,

The realm has only just settled down not long ago.

Can we not stir up more trouble?

You are the Emperor.

You know an Emperor cannot act merely on personal whim.

The great chaos has been the way of the world for decades.

It is not that anyone who wishes for peace can simply have it.

Those who were unwilling to act decisively now have trees growing on their graves.

In times like these,

no one is fated to be an Emperor of peace.

You may leave.

I take my leave.

He still refuses to yield.

Lord,

before I ascended the throne,

my friends and I shared everything.

Now that I am Emperor,

my friends have all drifted apart.

Lord, you have served four dynasties.

Tell me,

why is this?

Your Majesty,

that's because,

there is only one Emperor in the world.

Thus, an Emperor has no private friends.

When you were a subject,

you could have friends and comrades.

Now, as Emperor,

all under heaven,

are your subjects, your children.

They are all your friends and comrades.

You cannot show favoritism.

Your former friends will thus harbor resentment in their hearts.

If you wish to be a peaceful Emperor,

the matter of Minister Wang is merely the first hurdle.

By decree:

We,

heeding Heaven's Mandate and ruling the four seas,

deem that governance of the state must be based on virtue and ability,

and guided by loyalty and integrity.

Wang Jun, Chief of the Privy Council, Left Deputy Director of the Department of State Affairs, and Chancellor of Secretariat,

had minor merits in the past, once entrusted with heavy responsibilities.

However, his recent conduct has been erratic and perverse.

Abusing power and acting recklessly, he has failed his duty as a minister.

Yet, Wang Jun shows no remorse or reform, causing chaos in court affairs and unrest.

Therefore, he is stripped of all his titles and posts.

He is demoted to Military Officer of Shangzhou, and must leave the capital immediately.

In this new post, he must discipline himself and be diligent, fulfilling his duties,

to repay imperial grace and bring peace to the people.

Should he fail to correct his past wrongs and repeat his mistakes,

the law of the land is clear, and I dare not show favoritism.

Let the responsible authorities carry this out.

It has finally come to this.

Back in Taiyuan,

Jun had the nickname "the Scholar". He was open-minded about everything,

He also had a chivalrous spirit.

On every day off,

he would take a jar of wine from the storehouse,

and invite all our comrades for a feast.

[Lady Dong, Guo Wei's concubine] The ancients said,

"It's better to be a dog in peaceful times than a man in chaotic times."

This wretched world,

is constantly at war.

If the people of the world cannot attain peace, how can civil and military officials hope to achieve it?

My entire family died, leaving no one behind.

Even if one becomes the Emperor,

what meaning does it hold?

That day, Jun said to me,

"This world,

is still far from peace."

In these times,

no one has the fate of a peaceful Emperor.

A peaceful Emperor...

Emperor Taizong of Tang was an Emperor.

He brought peace at the age of thirty-five.

I am now fifty years old.

How pitiful!

For fifty years,

I have never seen

what a peaceful year even looks like.

What's wrong?

I'll go fetch more wine and dishes.

You two, father and son, have a good talk.

Some matters can no longer be as they were in the past.

Which matters?

Achieving a peaceful and prosperous age is no easy task.

Rather than wallowing in self-pity here, it's better to tackle things one by one, and get them done.

How to do it?

First,

cease court disputes.

Given the current dire situation,

we, as compatriots, should not engage in internal strife.

Whether civil or military officials, as long as they serve the court wholeheartedly,

even the imperial family should prioritize the greater good,

and endure what must be endured.

Continue.

Second,

control Military Governors' elite soldiers.

Most of the chaos stems from the arrogance of these elites, who overthrow their superiors,

and even replace the ruling dynasty.

Father, you are now master of the world. There should be no division between inner and outer.

The elites of the various military governors must be gradually integrated into the Imperial Guard.

Incidents of Baima Station and Xingjiao Gate— I know these stories.

Third:

Advance civil governance.

All great eras in history relied on cultural and educational work.

In court administration, we should use more civil officials who can accomplish things.

The central court

should not be dominated by military men.

Fourth:

Curb the military governors.

The world has been split apart too long.

Prefectures and commanderies constantly war and annex one another.

The state's foundation is weakened,

and the people endure displacement.

A vast dream indeed.

It is a dream,

but we must dare to dream it.

Fifth:

Plan for unification.

The world is vast.

State taxes, agriculture, water conservancy,

education, relief, commerce—

these are all the court's duties.

If the court cannot do them, or do them well, how can we speak of unification?

The court's decrees are mere useless paper to those military governors.

Consider the yearly floods.

Taming it is harder than reaching heaven, because upstream are the Guanzhong garrisons,

midstream the breakaway Northern Han, and downstream...

just last month, Murong Yanchao was there.

Not to mention Southern Tang, Western Shu, Wuyue, and other such states.

Each has its own separate rule.

If the world cannot be unified,

then what we call an Emperor, meaning Son of Heaven,

is just a better-fed military governor.

There are so many tasks. One generation cannot finish them all.

We must rely on effort.

Father,

if we cannot, like Emperor Taizong, bring peace at thirty-five,

then we strive for forty-five.

Fifty-five.

Sixty-five.

If one generation cannot finish, then two generations, three generations.

As long as each generation continues, we will eventually give this world back a golden age of peace.

General of the Left Gate Guard, Prefect of Chanzhou,

Military Governor of the Zhenning Army, Marquis of Taiyuan, Guo Rong,

possesses great literary talent, and is courageous beyond compare.

He repaired the great river, and governed the people, easing their livelihood.

He is appointed Prefect of Kaifeng, Chancellor of the Central Secretariat,

concurrently Merit Commissioner, and granted authority over all military affairs.

He is enfeoffed as Prince of Jin.

May he not disgrace this most impartial appointment.

Let this be proclaimed far and wide, that all may hear it.

Let the responsible authorities carry this out.

I kowtow in gratitude for Your Majesty's heavenly grace.

Chancellery:

Deputy Director of the Secretariat, Chancellor, and Commissioner of the Three Fiscal Agencies, Li Gu,

is appointed Inspector of the Six Residences in Jiangnan, in Wuyue prefectures.

Remonstrance Officer and Kaifeng Prefecture Judicial Officer Wang Pu,

Chief Commander of the Imperial Guards, Zhao Kuangyin,

are appointed Deputy Inspector of the Six Residences.

They shall pacify the southeast area, to manifest the court's sincere intent.

You all have long been known for your loyalty.

Let this be proclaimed, that all may hear it. Let the responsible authorities carry this out.

We obey the decree.

Li Gu's mission to Southern Tang and Wuyue this time,

is to cease warfare, forge alliances,

and promote trade.

[Eastern Palace Guard Officer] Years of war, compounded by natural disasters,

[Eastern Palace Guard Officer] have left local granaries more than half empty.

His Majesty intends to recuperate and build strength, to cease fighting.

Huainan, Jiangnan, and Wuyue have been the land of fish and rice since the time of the two Jin dynasties.

If grain from the south can be shipped north, the court's situation in the coming two years will be much easier.

The lords have been divided for nearly a century. The realm must ultimately be unified.

This journey south is also

[Wang Pu] to observe the customs and bearing of the southern people.

The Li clan of Southern Tang and the Qian clan of Wuyue—

if they can submit to the king's rule without resorting to arms,

nothing could be better.

[Western Palace Guard Officer] This matter

[Western Palace Guard Officer] is likely not easy.

I know it is not easy.

That is why I have Mr. Wang and Kuangyin

accompany Li Gu on this journey south, to observe the situation.

Observe not just the court,

but also the common folk.

A state's strength lies not only in its arms,

but more in its people's hearts.

If the people in Jiangnan favor the Li clan,

and in Wuyue favor the Qian clan,

even if their armies are weak,

the court should treat them kindly and await change.

Therefore,

Mei and Bin shall also go.

Bring back to me the true state of affairs in Wuyue and Southern Tang.

Understood.

I told you to go and rest early.

I don't need anyone attending to me here.

Stay up less late.

[Lady Fu, Guo Rong's wife] Work is never finished.

Build your body to be stronger,

and strive to add a few more years to your life.

You make it sound so easy.

The times are hard.

Even the imperial family can fall into ruin without a good end.

Father wants to build a century of peace and prosperity.

From the court down to the prefectures and counties, there are countless matters waiting to be handled.

When Luojia was alive, she could always understand these difficulties.

She never spoke such angry words to me.

Your words, my King,

I do not wish to hear.

The times are hard.

Is it only your family that is broken?

You lost your wife of first marriage, and I too lost my young husband.

We are both lost souls in this world.

Who does not know the other's heart?

Guo Rong,

If you think I am not as good as Lady Liu,

then just say it plainly.

I will return to my parents' home with pregnancy. At least there will be a peaceful meal.

I only said one thing, and you reply with so many complaints.

On our wedding day two years ago, I already told you:

I, Guo Rong,

am a man whose heart is dead.

Unlike the young master of the Li family,

in this life,

it is unlikely I will ever live well again.

If you seek wealth and peace,

I am truly not a good match.

But what did you say before?

We are just two unfortunate people

huddling together for warmth.

I regret it now, is that not allowed?

You...

King,

Zhao Kuangyin, Chief of the Imperial Guards, requests an audience.

Greetings, Great King.

We are comrades. No need for such formality.

To keep calling you by nickname would be rather inappropriate now.

Enough of that.

Coming here so late, if you don't have urgent business,

then hurry back and get some sleep.

We set off south tomorrow.

May I ask you,

is the court

planning a southern campaign?

Who told you that?

I wasn't intended to think about it,

but today, the things you said at Kaifeng Prefecture,

I've been turning them over, and it all feels somewhat strange.

Strange?

Southern Tang is one thing.

But in Wuyue,

it's Hongchu who's in charge now.

If there were anything you worry, speaking openly wouldn't matter.

Yet you deliberately mentioned none of it, sticking only to formal pleasantries.

As expected, I couldn't hide it from you.

So a southern campaign is truly coming?

Look at this.

This is Mr. Wang's writing.

Read it.

The disorder of the late Tang lay in the weakness of imperial authority.

The scourge of the military governors stemmed from the excessive power of frontier commanders.

Since the Zhenguan era onward, the primary criterion for appointment has been administrative skill.

Moral was neglected, and serious governance became an empty name.

Control over the Secretariat was effective, but oversight of the regions was not.

The sovereign's reliance on frontier commanders was not without cause.

The court's practice of enfeoffing military governors would also cause bad consequences.

I have been reading the Admonitions of Duke Wei Zheng.

One who is illiterate cannot govern the officials.

One who does not study history cannot understand the cycles of rise and fall.

The issue of military governors and local rulers has always been an intractable knot.

Ever since the First Emperor replaced the Duke of Zhou's feudal system with commanderies and counties,

this knot was there.

In this vast China land,

a single dispatch

from Guanzhong or Henan to Guangzhou or Quanzhou

would take a fast horse two months.

If sent to Qianzhong or the Baiyue lands,

it might take over half a year.

Thus, it is not a question of whether the court is willing to establish military governors,

but rather that some places naturally have military governors.

It is the force of circumstance.

How can tactics

halt it?

In the early Han, there were no such things as provinces.

The Prefect,

was merely an official for inspection and impeachment.

However,

once this system lasted long enough,

it eventually led to the establishment of thirteen provinces,

akin to feudal states.

The court could not control them.

The chaos of the Three Kingdoms truly originated from this.

The Wei and Jin dynasties curtailed the power held by inspectors and governors,

but still had to bestow

white banners and yellow axes upon military commanders, [white banners and yellow axes: represent military authority]

allowing them to govern the regions. [white banners and yellow axes: represent military authority]

Over time, they amassed military power and acted autonomously.

The chaos of the Sixteen Kingdoms also stemmed from this.

In the early Tang,

though prefectures and commanderies were established,

they ultimately could not resist this trend

and even gave rise to offices like the military governor.

Your Majesty,

if you wish to change this,

you must first alter the underlying trend.

Otherwise,

laws and tactics are merely minor arts.

Within a hundred years,

there may be no trouble,

but after five dynasties,

it will surely become a calamity.

What is to be done?

If Your Majesty lacks long-term foresight,

then reducing the vassals' power is merely drinking poison to quench thirst.

You may manage it for the present,

but not for future generations.

If Emperor Taizong of Tang had employed enfeoffment,

could he have avoided the chaos of later times?

He could not.

Why is that?

The Duke of Zhou's enfeoffment

was to transform wild frontier lands into core territories of the Central Plains.

Emperor Gaozu of Han's enfeoffment was to turn impoverished wastelands

into lands governed with non-interference.

But Emperor Taizong of Tang's enfeoffment

was to carve up the national territory to enfeoff princes and meritorious officials,

merely bequeathing a source of calamity, with little achieved in governance and transformation.

If Emperor Wen had possessed great wisdom,

enfeoffing Prince Wei to the Baiyue and East Sea,

enfeoffing Gaozong to the frontier of Yanji,

then

the Zhenguan era would have seen no Xuanwu Gate Rebellion,

the glorious Tang would have had no An-Shi Rebellion.

Only this kind of enfeoffment reveals its true purpose.

Yet,

with Prince Wei's favored status,

sending him to the southeast with little actual power.

Emperor Taizong

could not bear it.

But if we do not weaken the vassals,

how can the realm be unified?

How can the warfare cease?

How can the people,

live in peace, health, and prosperity?

Your Majesty,

weakening the vassals is not the fundamental way.

Nor does it mean they cannot be weakened.

The so-called reduction of vassals does not mean weakening every vassal we see.

Whom to weaken and whom not, why to weaken, why not to weaken—

this is a profound study.

I ask for your guidance, Rong.

Reducing vassals is the state's foremost important matter.

The Qian clan of Wuyue,

since Qian Liu seized control of the southeast, for fifty years,

has served the court well and diligently paid tribute.

They can protect their borders and pacify their people.

Even if the current ruler were not Hongchu, there would be no hurry to weaken them.

But as for the Li clan of Southern Tang,

the Li family has proclaimed itself emperor, like Yuan Shu at the end of the Eastern Han.

Thus all should join in condemning them.

But that also depends on whether the matter of transporting southern grain north can be accomplished.

Therefore, reducing vassals depends not only on the situation,

but also on communications.

Communications?

If the people and merchants can interact without hindrance,

trading goods and facilitating commerce,

over time,

even the incompatible will become one.

Conversely,

if the two sides are isolated, with no contact between officials and people,

over time,

separation becomes custom and precedent.

That land and its people will truly no longer belong to the central authority.

Therefore, on this southern journey,

we first discuss communications with Hongchu.

Hongchu,

surely has his own difficulties as well.

Reduce the army?

Reduce the army.

Whom to reduce?

Reduce how many?

And under what pretext?

Reporting to you, Lord.

Since the third year of Changxing,

[Shen Yin] Wuyue has had thirteen Companies of troops.

Among them, eight Companies were established when King Wusu raised his army.

Five were added later.

During King Wenmu's reign, the Imperial and Personal Guard were established,

including Zhongzhi, Kuangwu, Cifei, Left and Right Halls, Yue Cavalry and so, twenty-four in total.

King Zhongxian established three new companies.

In addition, there are the Liaoqian Company guarding the seawall and the Taihu Lake dike,

the Zhedong and Zhexi, two major Land Offices responsible for cultivation, construction, and military settlements,

the Ruijin Company responsible for repairing armor and weapons,

the Louchuan Company responsible for repairing warships,

The Chejia Company responsible for repairing vehicles.

And also, the three Zizhong Companies responsible for transporting supplies.

In total, it's forty-eight companies.

Troop, two hundred and forty thousand, three thousand, five hundred and eighty-one men.

This military reduction will include the old eight companies,

and the five established at the founding.

All will be disbanded.

The two major Land Offices, their affiliated officers will be transferred to the Ministry of Revenue as subordinates.

The soldiers will all be disbanded.

The Ruijin, the Louchuan, and the three Zizhong Companies will merge into the Ministry of War.

The Chejia into the Ministry of Works.

In total, twenty-one Companies will be disbanded, reducing troop strength by

eighty-seven thousand, three hundred and twenty-one men.

Do you also intend to destroy Wuyue?

Does the King know what soldiers are?

Without the old eight companies,

there would be no Wuyue.

Without these soldiers,

the old king would have been nothing but a fish and salt peddler struggling for life on the mudflats.

And I would have been nothing but a filthy butcher

in Chang'an, slaughtering pigs and sheep.

In this chaotic age,

human life is as cheap as grass.

Soldiers are the foundation of the realm.

Soldiers,

are the ballast stone for our Wuyue's peaceful time.

Without soldiers,

or with weak soldiers,

let alone the realm,

the future,

even now,

the Li family of Southern Tang to the north will pounce fiercely upon us.

With sharp teeth and claws, bite by bite,

they will devour this paradise southeastern land until nothing remains.

There will be no more state of Wuyue.

Not only your family, but the entire Qian clan

will be left with nowhere to bury their dead.

Is that

truly so?

Does the King doubt my words?

I am asking:

Can today's old eight companies still serve as Wuyue's protective barrier?

Yin,

according to the inner guard roster, what is the listed strength of the old eight companies?

Thirty-one thousand, eight hundred and eighty-two.

How many are actually present?

According to inspections by the Inner Guard Surveillance Office, the actual number is

eleven thousand and fifty-four men.

Vacancies,

ghost soldiers,

false accounts.

The three great military evils,

are you

all unaware?

Lord,

can such an army,

still serve as our Wuyue's protective barrier?

♫ Across tens of thousands of miles stretch 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. ♫