(Quelling the Rebellion with Golden Axe)

As Xiao Feng watch, he suddenly heard someone shout: “Is that venerable Master Xiao?” Xiao Feng thought: “Who recognize me?” Turning his head, he saw someone rode out of the green cavalry troop, it was the captain sent by YeLu Ji to deliver the gifts a few months ago.

He rode toward Xiao Feng until he was within 10 zhang, quickly dismounted, rush forward and knelt down with his right knee and said: “My Lord is waiting for you not far away. His Lordship talked about Master Xiao frequently, he misses you terribly. What good fortune brought Master Xiao here? I invite you to meet my Lord with haste.” Xiao Feng heard that YeLu Ji is near the vicinity, with great joy he said: “I was just roaming around freely, I did not know my sworn brother is near, this cannot be better. Good, please lead me to meet him.”

The attendant blew a whistle, two horsemen came riding swiftly. The attendant said: “Report quickly, say Master Xiao from Changbai Mountain is coming!” The two riders received the order and sped off quickly. The rest of the troops continued to shoot the deers, the attendant led a troop of green-robed cavalry to protect Xiao Feng and AhZi and they travelled west. When YeLu Ji sent large quantity of gold, silver, cattle and sheep, Xiao Feng knew instantly that he was a Khitan noble, after seeing such a sight, he expect that his sworn brother must be some general or high ranking official.

On the grass plains, troops travelled back and forth endlessly, all of them wearing brightly colored armor. The attendant said: “Master Xiao arrived at a good time, tomorrow morning, it will be bustling with activity here.” Xiao Feng saw AhZi lit up and he ask: “What kind of activity?” The attendant replied that there will be a martial arts competition. There are 2 vacant positions for commanding officers of Yongchang and Taihe military. The Khitan soldiers will showcase their martial art skills, whoever is lucky, they will become the commanding officers.

Once Xiao Feng heard that there will be a martial arts competition, he was naturally exuberant and in high-spirits, he laughed: “This truly is a coincidence, I will finally get to see Khitan’s martial arts.” AhZi smiled and said: “Captain, just display your skills tomorrow, I will congratulate you in becoming the commanding officer.” The attendant replied: “I am a lowly person, why would I dare to try?” AhZi smiled and said: “What’s so difficult about winning the commanding officer post? As long as my brother-in-law is willing to teach you 2 or 3 moves, you will definitely win the commanding officer post.” The attendant happily said: “If Master Xiao is willing to give directions to me, it will really save my life. But as for the commanding officer position, i do not have the fate and i do not wish to hanker after it.”

They travelled around 10 li as they gossip along the way, suddenly they saw a cavalry troop gallop over. The attendant said: “It’s the flying bear squadron from the fur-skin army of the main camp.” The squadron officers wear bear skin clothes, black bear skin robe, white bear skin hat, and they look very mighty. As the squadron neared, they cried in unison, dismount at the same time, separated in two columns and said: “Respectfully welcome Master Xiao!” Xiao Feng replied: “I don’t dare! I don’t dare!” and raise his hands to salute, he move forward and the flying bear squadron followed closely behind.

After travelling for 10 li, they saw another squadron, clothed with tiger skin, the flying tiger squad came over to welcome them. Xiao Feng thought: “I don’t know what ranking official my Brother YeLu is, he can organize such grand stuff.” But the attendant refused to comment, and YeLu Ji refused to reveal the last time they met, and thus Xiao Feng did not want to probe further.

As they travelled until dusk, they reach a large tent, a troop wearing leopard skin clothes, the flying leopard squadron greeted and escorted Xiao Feng and AhZi to the center of the large tent. Xiao Feng thought that he would be able to meet YeLu Ji when he entered the tent, the rugs and items in the tent were all exquisite, the table was filled with dishes and fruits, however there was no one in the tent. The leader of the flying leopard squadron said: “His Lordship invites Master Xiao to rest here for tonight. He will meet you another day.” Xiao Feng did not inquire further, sat down, and start drinking wine. Four army sergeants refilled the wine and cut the meats, respectfully serving him.

After waking up the next morning, they travelled west for 200 li, and they rest in another large tent during night fall.

In the afternoon of the third day, the attendant said: “After crossing that mountainside, we will reach our destination.” Xiao Feng saw the atmosphere of the mountain was magnificent, the “Hua Hua” sound of flowing water as it flows swiftly from the mountainside to down south. As the group crossed the mountainside, they saw flags fluttering before their eyes, tents were packed closely and filled the entire grassland, tens of thousands of cavalry circled a vast open space in the center. The officers of the flying bear squadron, flying tiger and flying leopard took out their horns, they blew and a “Wu Wu Wu” sound reverberated.

Suddenly the drums rang out loudly, “Peng Peng Peng” cannon fire came from the mountain, officers and soldiers at the open space split into two column, a majestic yellow horse gallop towards Xiao Feng, and someone shouted: “Brother Xiao, brother misses you terribly!” Xiao Feng mounted a horse and met up with him, both dismounted at the same time, their hands grasping, their joy cannot be contained.

From all four directions, the soldiers shouted in unison: “Long live the king! Long live the king! Long live the king!”

Xiao Feng was shocked: “Why do the soldiers keep cheering long live the king!” He look around, every single soldiers were bowing, their blade leaning on the ground, YeLu Ji was holding his hand and standing in the middle, looking to the east and west, his expression pleased. Stunned, Xiao Feng said: “Brother, you … you are …” YeLu Ji laughed and said: “At that time, if you knew i am the current emperor of Great Liao, I’m afraid you will refuse to swear brotherhood with me. Brother Xiao, my real full name is YeLu HongJi. I survive due to your grace, I will remember it forever and never forget it.”

Although Xiao Feng is open-minded and heroic, he have never seen an emperor before in his life, seeing such splendor, he cannot help but feel embarrassed and said: “Subordinate did not know your majesty, I greatly offended you, I deserve to die!” and he knelt down immediately. He is a Khitan, he should kneel down and worship when meeting Khitan’s emperor.

YeLu HongJi quickly held out his hand and propped him up, smiling he said: “You are not guilty as you do not know about it, brother, you are my sworn brother, we will only talk about our brotherhood today, it won’t be late to pay respect to the monarch tomorrow.” He waved his left hand, and the troops started drumming music to welcome the honoured guest. YeLu HongJi held onto Xiao Feng hands and both of them entered a big tent.

The tent of Liao emperor was made of several layers of leather with numerous flying gold ribbons, it was glorious and brilliant, the residence was known as the great leather tent. YeLu HongJi sat in the middle, and ordered Xiao Feng to sit at the first seat across his, after a while civil and military officials came in to pay their respect, Lord of Northern Chancellery, Chancellor of Northern Chancellery, Chancellor of Southern Chancellery, and many more, generals of the great leather tent, junior generals, cavalry commanders, infantry commanders, etc, Xiao Feng can’t possibly remember all of them at the moment.

A banquet was held in the tent that night, the Khitan people respected women, and thus AhZI was also invited to feast in the great leather tent. Wine as deep as pond, meat piled as high as mountain, AhZi was jubilant when she saw all these.

Everyone drank to their heart’s content, the Khitan’s warrior entertained the emperor by duelling in front of him, their upper body naked, it was an intense fight as they wrestled fiercely. Xiao Feng saw that these Khitan warriors are skilful, had strong muscular strength, a set of martial art moves can be seen in their tossing and lifting, although the variations is not as ingenious as martial arts from Central Plains, but if employed in a real battlefield, its actually more effective than martial arts from Central Plains.

The various Liao officials all approached Xiao Feng to propose a toast. Xiao Feng could not refuse and emptied every cup of wine toasted, eventually he drank over 300 cups, his expression completely unchanged, the crowd was astonished.

YeLu HongJi was proud of his own bravery and prowess, the deed by Xiao Feng in capturing him was known throughout Liao Empire, thus he intended Xiao Feng to showcase his superhuman abilities to cover up the humiliation of being captured, he did not expect that Xiao Feng did not need to take part in tomorrow’s martial art competition to display his abilities, the current display of drinking prowess was sufficient to convince the crowd and gained everyone’s admiration. YeLu HongJi was overjoyed, he said: “Brother, you are the number one hero in my Liao Empire!”

Suddenly AhZi interrupted and said: “He is not number one!” YeLu HongJi laughed and said: “Little girl, how did he become number two? Then who is the number one hero?” AhZi said: “The number one hero is naturally your majesty. Although my brother-in-law ability is great, he have to obey you and he cannot go against you, aren’t you the number one hero? ” She is XingXiu Elder favoured disciple, proficient in the art of flattery, all these words are a piece of cake for her.

YeLu HongJi laughed and said: “Well said, well said. Brother Xiao, i want to confer an extremely high-rank post for you, let me think, what should i confer you? “At this moment, his already 80 to 90% drunk, he drum his forehead with his finger. Xiao Feng quickly said: “No, no, subordinate is careless, not suitable for riches, I have always been roaming the four corners of earth, never staying for certain, I really don’t want to be an official.” YeLu HongJi replied: “No problem, I’ll confer you a high-rank post that do not require any work done, you only need to drink wine …..” before he could finish speaking, the “Wu Wu Wu” sound of bugle came from afar, the sound was sharp and urgent.

The Liao people were originally sitting on the floor, drinking wine and eating meat, but upon hearing this bugle, they stood up in unison, their face frightened and devoid of color. The bugle call came quickly, the original call was 10 li away, the second call came a few li closer, the third call came even closer by a few more li. Xiao Feng pondered: “Even with the fastest horse, or the highest level of lightness martial arts, it can’t be faster than this bugle call. Yes, signal station must have been pre-arranged and used to deliver urgent military news, once the first bugle call is heard, they will relay it to the next station, so forth and so on.” The bugle call was delivered quickly and it stopped abruptly when it reached the great leather tent. Hundreds of officers and men in the tents where originally cheering and partying, it was extremely noisy and chaotic, upon hearing the call they became mute.

YeLu HongJi expression was calm, he slowly lifted his golden cup, drank all the wine and said: “There a rebellion in the capital, de-camp, we will return immediately.”

The marching generals immediately went out to issue orders, once they heard the single word “De-camp”, they relay the words and it became ten, and this ten became hundred, hundred became thousand, the word became louder and louder, it was serious and orderly, and it seems there was no hint of panic. Xiao Feng pondered: “My great Liao Empire has been established for over two hundred years, our Empire shook the entire world by force, currently there is civil strife, but no one panic, it seems every generation of Liao leader is competent in commanding the army.”

The sound of horse hoof was heard, the advance party gallop off, followed by the left and right vanguard, the forward troops, left troops, right troops, troop after troop headed south back to the capital.

YeLu HongJi held Xiao Feng’s hand and said: “Let’s go take a look.” He went out of the tent alone, in the middle of the night, lanterns were hung on every military banner, red, yellow, blue and white, all these coloured lanterns illuminated the area, the remaining ten thousands of troops were travelling down south, no one spoke a word and only the neighing of horses can be heard. Xiao Feng was greatly impressed and thought: “Look at the way he has control of the army, who can go against him? That day the emperor bravely went out hunting alone and he accidently got captured by me, if his army really did press on and attack, although the Jurchens are strong and valiant, they will hopelessly be outnumbered and defeated.”

Once the two of them left the tent, the guards de-tent immediately and kept everything neatly, luggage and supplies all loaded onto the horse carriage. The commander-in-chief of the main army issued his orders, and the main army moved off immediately. The Lord of Northern Chancellery, chancellor, advisers and tutors all of them stayed near YeLu HongJi, their face solemn, but they all acted in unison. Although they knew about the rebellion, but they still did not know who led this rebellion and what is the exact situation of the chaos.

The huge party travelled south for 3 days, during the night after setting camp, a scout gallop back and reported to YeLu HongJi: “The Lord of Southern Chancellery staged this rebellion, he has occupied the main Palace, the empress dowager, empress, prince, princess and over one hundred officials and their family members, all have been captured.”

YeLu HongJi had a huge shock, and his expression became grave.

The military affairs of Liao Empire were handled by the Northern and Southern Chancellery, the Lord of Northern Chancellery accompanied the emperor for the current hunting trip, and the Lord of Southern Chancellery stayed behind to guard the capital. The Lord of Southern Chancellery is YeLu NieLuGu, his title is Prince of Chu, it doesn’t matter if he rebelled, but his father is YeLu ZhongYuan, the uncle of the emperor and supreme commander of the army, it was no small matter.

YeLu HongJi’s grandfather YeLu LongXu, was known as the Holy Emperor in Liao’s history. The Holy Emperor eldest son was ZongZhen, the second son ZhongYuan. ZongZhen’s character was kind and generous, ZhongYuan was valiant and gifted in military strategy. When the Holy Emperor was about to pass away, he designated ZongZhen to succeed the throne, but the empress favoured her second son, and she plotted to make ZhongYuan emperor. In Liao’s tradition, the Empress Dowager is extremely powerful, thus ZongZhen could not fully consolidate his power as the emperor, and his life was also in danger, but ZongZhen informed his brother of their mother’s scheme, and her scheme was thwarted. ZongZhen was naturally grateful to his brother and bestowed the rank of royal emperor brother, making him next in line to succeed the throne.

YeLu ZongZhen was known in Liao’s history as the Prosperous Emperor, but after his death, the throne was not passed on to the royal emperor brother ZhongYuan, but passed on to his son HongJi.

After assuming the throne, YeLu HongJi felt apologetic, and he conferred ZhongYuan as the royal emperor uncle, and this again made him next in line to succeed the throne, in addition he also made ZhongYuan the supreme commander of the entire army, exempted him from kneeling during court session, bestowed him gold and scriptures, mortar board, two-colour robe, and gave him preferential treatment, he became the most powerful figure in Liao Empire; YeLu HongJi also conferred ZhongYuan’s son the title of Prince of Chu, giving him full control of military affairs in Southern Chancellery, and hence he was known as Lord of Southern Chancellery.

When the Holy Emperor died YeLu ZhongYuan could assume the throne with the help of the Dowager, but he gave it up and supported his brother, and this showed that he valued loyalty, and he also kept quiet about the entire incident. When YeLu HongJi left to go hunting, he did not have the slightest suspicion and let his uncle handled all the military affairs. When the bugle call came, and the rebellion was actually led by the Lord of Southern Chancellery YeLu NieLuGu, Ye Hongji was naturally shocked and worried, rumour goes that NieLuGu disposition is vicious and ruthless, since he plotted the rebellion, there’s no reason his father will do nothing about it.

The Lord of Northern Chancellery said: “Your Majesty need not be overly worried, your uncle is an understanding person, he will not allow his unfilial son to rebel, it’s possible that he had already deployed the army and quelled the rebellion.” YeLu HongJi replied: “I really hope so.”

After they finished their dinner, the second scout rush in and reported: “The Lord of Southern Chancellery made his father the emperor, the imperial decree announced it to the rest of the world.” He did not dare continue his words, and presented the new emperor’s edict with both hands. HongJi peruse the edict, the edict said that YeLu HongJi was a fake emperor who tried to usurp the throne, the royal emperor brother is the legitimate emperor, and hence the army was mobilize to resolve this issue. YeLu HongJi was so furious that he threw the edict into the fire and burnt it to ashes, but his heart was worried and he pondered: “This fake emperor affair sounds convincing, once the Liao army and citizen sees the edict, their loyalty will waver. My uncle is the supreme commander of the entire army, he have the authority to mobilize 800 thousand troops with just a wave of his hand, not to mention the troops under the jurisdiction of his son the Lord of Southern Chancellery. I only have around 100 thousand troops following me, i am heavily outnumbered, what should I do?” he toss and turn throughout the night, unable to sleep.

When Xiao Feng heard the emperor wanting to confer an official post, he wanted to bring AhZi and leave during the night without saying goodbye, but seeing the crisis faced by his sworn brother, its inconvenient to simply walk away, he wanted to do something for him on account of their brotherhood. That night as he was strolling outside the camp, he heard secret discussions among the troops, the emperor’s parents and wife all lived in the capital, since they are held hostage by the royal emperor uncle, they would most probably not survive. Some of the troops were worried about their own family members and they suddenly cried. The cry was infectious, the rest of the officers and soldiers could relate to their situation, and one by one they begin to cry. The commanders and generals tried to persuade them to stop, they targeted those that cried especially loud, but they could not stop them from crying.

The cries were earth-shattering, YeLu HongJi knew the troop’s spirit was broken and he became even more troubled.

Early next morning, the scout came to report, the royal emperor uncle and his son are leading 500 thousand troops, they are heading north to intercept them. YeLu HongJi pondered: “In such a situation, we cannot retreat, even if we are utterly defeat, we can only fight till death.” immediately he summoned his officers and began discussing. The ministers and officials are all extremely loyal to YeLu HongJi and they are willing to fight to the death, but they are worried about the army’s morale.

HongJi pass down his orders: “All officers and soldiers, after we resolve this situation, you will be promoted and also receive heavy rewards.” He dons his golden armour and helmet, personally led 3 troops, and gallops off to meet the troops of his uncle. All officers and men saw the emperor personally leading the troops to meet the enemy, at once their courage received a large boost, they gave three cheer and pledged loyalty till death. The 100 thousand troops divided into four sections, the advance troop, left troop, right troop and main troop, their armour clanking, the march southward, in addition a small squad scattered and roam both flanks.

Xiao Feng took up a bow and spear and followed beside HongJi, becoming his personal bodyguard. The flying bear troops protected AhZi and they positioned at the rear of the army. Xiao Feng saw YeLu HongJi frowning, and knew he did not have confidence in winning this battle.

As they travelled till noon, they heard the bugle call out again in front. The main army general commanded: “Dismount!” all the troops dismounted and pulled their horse bridle, only YeLu HongJi and his ministers are still on horseback.

Xiao Feng did not understand why the troops dismounted, he was puzzled. YeLu HongJi smiled and said: “Brother, you stayed in the Central Plains for such long time, you don’t know about how we Khitan fight wars, correct?” Xiao Feng said: “I was about to invite your majesty to enlighten me.” HongJi smiled and said: “Haha, this emperor position, I don’t know if i can hang onto it until sun down. We should address each other as brothers, why do you have to address me as your majesty? ” Xiao Feng heard bitterness in his laughter and said:” The two armies have yet to cross swords, you majesty, please do not worry.” HongJi said: “When clashing on flat terrain, the horse strength is of upmost importance, we can charge into enemy lines and press forward relentlessly. We Khitans attacked the east and west and secured victory in every battle, this is the secret to our success.”

As he finish speaking, dust cloud began gathering in the distant and tower over 10 zhang high, it was as if yellow cloud was gushing over the ground. HongJi pointed with his whip said: “My uncle and his son are war veteran, they are valiant generals of Liao Empire, but now why do they gallop over anxiously and not conserve their horse strength? Hmmm, it seems they are over-confident and thinks they will win for certain.” As he finish speaking, the bugle call was heard simultaneously from the left and right troops. Xiao Feng look to the distant, the enemy have two cavalry troops to the east, another two cavalry troops to the west, they are outnumbered five to one.

YeLu HongJi turn pale, he said to the main army general: “Get into formation and set up stockade!” The general replied: “Yes!” he rode off and pass down the orders, immediately the advance troops, left troops and right troops all turned back, the sergeants nailed the pillars of the great leather tent with a large hammer into the ground, spread out the tent cover, set up abatis on all four sides, and built a large wooden stockade on the grassland, the troops defended all four side during construction, around 10 thousand archers took up position in the wooden stockade, their bows drawn and waiting for the order to shoot.

Xiao Feng furrowed his brow and thought: “Once they start fighting, regardless of the outcome, countless dead bodies of my Khitan tribe will be strewn all over the place, it best if we win, but if we lose, I can only escort AhZi and my sworn brother to a safe place. It doesn’t matter if he can’t be the emperor anymore.”

Not long after building the stockade, the enemy troops arrived but they did not engage immediately, they stood at a distant spot, beyond the range of the archers. The drum beat endlessly, troops after troops of rebels came from all four directions, form their battle formations and surrounded them. Xiao Feng gaze across the battlefield, the enemies are everywhere and he can’t even see the end, he pondered: “My sworn brother’s army is too heavily outnumbered, I’m afraid we will lose for certain. It’s not convenient to escape during the day, we can try to hold on until nightfall and then I will think of something to save them.” seeing the huge stockade cast a small shadow on the ground, it is currently noon.

There was numerous “Ya Ya Ya” sound, a flock of geese flew by in the sky. YeLu HongJi raised his head and gaze for a long time, he said bitterly: “Unless we can transform ourselves into geese and fly away, we will never be able to escape.” The expression of the Lord of Northern Chancellery and generals changed, they knew the emperor became fearful after seeing the rebel army.

The drums thundered within enemy ranks, over 100 skin-drums vibrated with “Peng Peng” sound. The general of the main army shouted: “Beat the drums!” hundreds of skin-drums in the stockade also vibrated with “Peng Peng” sound. The drums echoed in unison with enemy’s drum, over tens of thousands of cavalry cried out and shook the field, they stuck out their spears and charged forward.

Seeing the enemy rush towards their front troops, the main army general waved his command-flag, the drums stopped drumming, and tens of thousands of arrows shot out simultaneously, the enemy’s front troops all fell onto the ground. But the next wave followed closely behind, and charges forward bravely, horses that fell down in front became the meat-shield for those behind. The enemy infantry archers were armed with shields, they rush forward and shot their arrows towards the stockade.

YeLu HongJi was only shock in the beginning, as the fight broke out, immediately his courage multiplied, standing at high ground, holding onto his blade, he gave orders and commanded, the soldiers in the stockade saw the emperor personally supervising the front line, and they shouted loudly: “Long live the king! Long live the king! Long live the king!” hearing “Long live the king” the enemy troops look up and saw YeLu HongJi in his golden armor, standing on the high platform in the stockade, under his impressive display of power, they could not help but leap back and stop pushing forward. HongJi saw this golden opportunity and shouted: “Left cavalry out flank, charge!”

The left troop was led by Northern Chancellery Chancellor, once they hear the emperor orders, 30 thousand cavalry immediately move to out flank the enemy. A moment of hesitation in the rebel army, and cavalry from the stockade had arrived. The rebels were thrown into confusion and quickly move back. The drums in the stockade thundered, after a short engagement, the rebels were quickly force to retreat. The cavalries from the stockade pursued and killed them, their manner sharp and imposing.

Xiao Feng was overjoyed and cried out: “Brother, we scored a huge victory for this round!” YeLu HongJi got down from the platform and mounted his battle horse, leading more troops to support. Suddenly, the bugle sounded, rebel main forces drive forward, the rebel’s front troop turn around and fought back, in a split second, arrows and spears flew back and forth across the battlefield, screams shook the sky, blood and flesh flew in every direction. Xiao Feng was secretly shock: “I have never seen such ferocious fighting in my life. Even if your martial art is peerless, it’s completely useless in the mist of millions of cavalries, at most you can use it to protect yourself. Such large armies engaging in war, it cannot be mention in the same breath as those group fights or duels in the martial arts world.”

Sudden the gongs rang out behind the rebel’s army, it was the gong to call off the battle. The rebel’s cavalry retreated, arrows rained to provide cover for their retreat. The main army general and the Chancellor of Northern Chancellery led the troops to charge three times, they broke through every time and caused confusion in the enemy formation, but thousands of them were also shot dead. YeLu HongJi said: “Our soldiers suffered too many losses, let’s withdraw for the time being.” and they beat the gongs and withdraw the troops.

The rebels also sent out 2 troops of cavalry to pursue, but the central army was prepared, they pretended to retreat but encircled them from both wings, three thousand rebels were surrounded and annihilated, the remaining few hundred dismounted and surrendered. HongJi wave his left hand, soldiers came out of the stockade armed with spears and pierce the hundred rebels to death. This ferocious battle lasted no more than an hour, but the killings were unusually tragic and cruel.

The main forces of both sides retreated 10 zhang from each other, the middle zone between them was filled with corpses, the wounded were moaning and wailing, it was unbearably tragic. Both sides sent out a troop of 300 black robed soldiers, the people from the stockade wore yellow hat, the enemy wore white hats, they move forward to the middle zone to examine the wounded. Xiao Feng thought these black robed soldiers would carry the injured back for medical treatment, but instead they took out their blades and killed the wounded soldiers. After all the injured soldiers were hacked to death, the 600 black robed soldiers shouted in unison and began to fight each other.

The martial arts of the 600 black robed soldiers were not weak, their blades flashed and they fought bravely, after a while, over 200 people were cut down. The black robed soldiers from the stockade had better martial arts, they only lost around 10 men, and the situation immediately became two versus one, thus the victor became obvious. After a while, it became three versus one. Officers from both sides only cheered their men, the rebel army stood by and watch, they did not dispatch any soldier to provide assistance. Eventually the 300 black robed soldiers from the rebel army were eliminated, the remaining 200 black robed soldiers from the stockade return back into formation. Xiao Feng pondered about the customs of Khitan: “The way they clean up the bat