Chapter 10: The War of Nobunaga's Cheek
Two golden orioles sing in the green willows,
A row of white egrets fly up into the blue sky.
The window frames the western hills' snow of a thousand autumns,
At the door are boats from Eastern Wu, ten thousand miles away.
"A Curtailed Verse," Du Fu (A.D. 712-770)
Though there were no open hostilities in the years that followed, it was clear that tensions were gradually building up. When the Indians built the city of Chittagong on the northern end of Bangladesh Island, the Indians had run out of suitable places to expand in their sphere of influence. Gandhi did not know of Tokugawa yet, as Chinese cartographers dutifully kept their maps of the western continent out of Indian hands, and Chinese galleys regularly patrolled the sea passage northwest of Shanghai. But it would only be a matter of time before that would have to change.
In Japan, the city of Matsuyama in the northern tundra put an end to Tokugawa's ambitions on his continent. Japanese scientists knew that map making was the key to reaching the islands off their coast, but Mao never offered to teach them the technique, so they worked long and hard observing the Chinese galleys that appeared on their shoreline every now and then.
Shogun Tokugawa, however, was impatient. He had heard many stories and tales of the Indian civilization that was on the other continent with the Chinese, but he had no way of communicating with them. Chinese travelers to Japan were the only intermediary he could rely on, and Tokugawa wished to put an end to that. He long suspected that Chinese merchants would add outrageous markups to products that were brought from India, but if only he could deal with Gandhi directly....
Presently, in the year 50 AD, an unexpected guest showed up in Shanghai harbor. Tokugawa had sent his colleague Oda Nobunaga on a trip to mainland China. On the surface it was a diplomatic mission, but in reality he had only one goal in mind: to pressure Mao to give them contact with the Indians.
"For the sake of friendship, you might want to consider giving us a small gift," said Nobunaga haughtily.
Mao was unimpressed. Perhaps if Nobunaga had asked more nicely, he would have given the Japanese a free copy of the writings of Confucius, or even the Chinese code of laws, but this demand was truly absurd. Foreign minister Zhou Enlai agreed.
"There is nothing for us to gain from granting Japan this kind of concession," said Zhou. "And if we refuse, I doubt there is much for us to lose."
Defense minister Zhu De also concurred. "Even though the Japanese had a comparatively large military," he argued, "their naval forces were remarkably weak for a country of their size."
But the Japanese envoy would not accept no as an answer; he insisted he would not leave until Mao gave him a response that satisfied him. Mao thought for a moment about it, and then had an idea.
He summoned the Indian worker that had been working for him ever since the mysticism deal he made with Gandhi.
"This young man is a full-blooded Indian," said the Chairman, pointing at the bewildered laborer. "Please introduce yourself to our esteemed guest, Oda Nobunaga of Japan."
"My name is Ganesh," said the worker. "Ganesh Gupta, from the great Indian city of Delhi." He stopped for a moment, staring at the strange visitor. "What may I help you with?"
Before Nobunaga could speak, Mao said, "This man from Japan is interested in making contact with the Indians. I suggest you help him out with that."
"My pleasure," said Ganesh. He then walked up to Nobunaga and circled him three times, examining every detail of the visitor.
"Hrmph," said Nobunaga. After the first round he already lost interest in Ganesh and continued to glare directly at Mao.
When Ganesh felt he was ready, he glanced toward Mao as if waiting for some kind of go-ahead signal. Mao nodded quickly.
With no warning at all, Ganesh delivered a terrific wallop to Nobunaga's face
WHAP! sending him tumbling to the floor.
"Congratulations, Oda Nobunaga," chuckled Mao. "You have made contact with an Indian. You can now go back and tell the Shogun that your mission was a success."
All of the onlookers burst into laughter. Even some of Nobunaga's attendants could barely stifle their laughs as the Japanese envoy struggled to his feet, his face glowing red with both embarrassment and fury.
"I shall repay this insult tenfold!" he declared as he stormed out onto his boat. His attendants rushed after him, hoping he didn't notice their behavior.
Even after returning to Kyoto, Nobunaga's cheek was still red and occasionally he still felt the stinging pain of the blow he had taken from Ganesh. Tokugawa was furious. "How dare that scoundrel Mao refuse us," shouted the Shogun. "Prepare the fleet, we must bring that Chinese peasant in chains before me!"
The news of war was no surprise to Mao; he had expected this kind of reaction from Japan. But a long history of dealing with barbarians had prepared the Chinese military well for combat. The only vulnerability was the three groups of Chinese settlers who were on their way to build new cities, but Mao made sure they all had military escorts in case of any ambush.
The first group built a settlement east of Qingdao, on the far northeastern coast of the continent with a herd of cattle and a cold wasteland nearby. They could even see a barbarian camp in the distance, but with the protection of their warrior escort, they had little to fear. Barbarians would occasionally come and pay them a visit, but would never cause much trouble. The city was even given a name in the barbarian language, Harbin.
The second group boarded a galley in Shanghai and made their way to the island in the west. They named the island Taiwan, and they built their city upon the plain between the two hills on the island, on the side facing away from Japan. The governor, however, was not particularly bright, and somewhat mindless recorded "Kaohsiung" as the city name, based on some of the citizens' improper Chinese pronounciation.
The third group did not have much room left to settle, but the governor of Changchun had pointed out that there was still a desert peninsula to the southeast of his city that was not within China's borders. Rather than let the Indians try to settle the location, Mao decided it would be best to seize it himself. There was a barbarian camp at the location the governor had specified, but they were quickly dispersed. Like the settlers of Harbin, however, these settlers decided to adopt the barbarian name of the location, Dalian.
The founding of Dalian spelled the end of settlement of the continent. Though there were other islands in the south, they were well within Japan's domain, and Chinese settlers were not willing to risk their lives to go there. Neither were there galleys available to take them there, as Mao had ordered most of them to protect the waters around Kaohsiung.
Mao was pretty sure the Japanese would never pose a threat to the mainland anytime soon, as in the year 170 AD, Beijing completed what would arguably be China's most significant construction of the ancient age:
The construction of the Great Wall had brought out the best and brightest of China's militaristic and industrious talents. In the years to come, Chinese citizens would proudly remember their great achievement, and continue to perform all their work with a remarkable fervor. Production increased dramatically, commerce prospered, and culture and science flourished.
"What a pity," said Confucius when he learned of the dawn of the Golden Age. "In so many cities around the country, the prosperity is being wasted by the despotic government. Just look at Beijing... so many of those mines could be producing three units instead of two!"
Economic advisor Liu Shaoqi nodded in silent agreement. But Mao had insisted on the Great Wall being completed first. There was too much to risk if it was built even a turn later, as the Indians were still working hard on their Great Library. Certain sacrifice would have to be made, and this was one of them.
"Think of it this way," said Mao. "With the Great Wall in place first, we can build the Great Library much more efficiently than before, and we can worry much less about threats from our competition."
And it was not just the Great Wall that made Mao so sure that mainland China would be safe. His military advisor, Zhu De, had already set up a blockade at the Taiwan Strait, ensuring that no vessel, neither Japanese nor Indian, could possibly pass through to the other side.
Unfortunately, that still left Taiwan and the city of Kaohsiung vulnerable to attacks from the Japanese. Chinese galleys did their best to deter Japanese vessels from landing any troops, but ultimately some got through. The Japanese landing force was small--just one regular spearman--but Mao would not tolerate it. Reinforcements were sent to the island, some to protect the city, others to protect the workers in the vicinity.
Finally, the intrepid admiral Zheng He of the military galley
Shenlong scored the first decisive naval victory in Chinese history, sinking the Japanese landing craft that had brought the spearman onto the island.
This was quickly followed by another victory by a ragtag band of sailors that Mao had recruited, on the galley
Jianghu, converted from an exploration craft. Nevertheless, it suffered only minor damage in engaging another Japanese galley. It was never known whether that Japanese ship ever contained troops intended to be brought onto Taiwan, as it was quickly swallowed up by the billowing waves before anyone could check if there were any survivors.
Still, the Japanese showed no signs of giving up. Shogun Tokugawa refused to see any envoy from China, and Japanese fleets continued to prowl the waters. The Japanese spearmen camped on the hill in Taiwan, however, could never gather the courage to attack the city of Kaohsiung. And thus they waited for their eventual destruction.
... to be continued