The Dragon's Breath

by James Boschert

  Hsü shook his head and stared overboard, gripping the rail, then continued. “You are, I think, more of a warrior than a merchant, so you perhaps do not understand that our civilization does not attach much importance to military adventures. We are traders; but the long and dangerous Silk Road is now but a shadow of what it used to be, and is definitely not a road along which I would send my goods.”

  “So you are looking at the sea for another way?” Talon asked.

  “That is correct. In recent times the sea traffic has also dwindled, for your people, the Persians and the Arabs, have come to China less and less. I do not know the reason why.”

  “Perhaps it is because we, too, have an invader who is more interested in plunder than in trade,” Talon said.

  “Ah, then it explains a lot. True, our two peoples do meet at Kalah Bar, which is convenient for both of us; but as you have seen, even that is dangerous. The Emperor’s advisors approached me to see if there were alternative routes to India, and in particular Gujarat, as from there a caravan can leave and arrive in Persia within two months instead of a year; or ships can sail from there to the city you call Baghdad.”

  “I know exactly what you mean!” Talon exclaimed. “I have been to Constantinople and seen the caravans there. They brought silk and much more, but there are more dangers these days, for the people called the Seljuk are like the Mongols you talk about. They care nothing for cities and trade. Instead they are herdsmen who prefer to steal and rob to gain their riches.”

  Hsü nodded and gave him a rueful smile. “That is the problem. Merchants such as we must trade, but the dangers are many and often unpredictable, so we have to learn to defend ourselves. My country is not as skilled as we should be in dealing with barbarians. However, in many ways my mission was successful, and one cannot blame the fates for every setback.” Hsü was silent for a while before continuing.

  “The sultan at Gujarat was very welcoming, and he is interested in having Chinese ships come to his port, which is up in the North-western corner of India. It is mostly Moslem there now, which is no bad thing for us Chinese, as we have many Arab and Persians who come to Guangzhou and there is an understanding of sorts between us. I was even invited to play a game of polo there; but, alas, that is not one of my skills.”

  Talon and Reza laughed.

  “We play polo, Hsü,” Reza told him when he looked askance at their amusement.

  He looked at them thoughtfully. “Do you know of the famous, or is it infamous, trophy?”

  They shook their heads.

  “The sultan of Gujarat told me of it on one of those long, hot evenings at the palace. Long, long ago, there was a game of polo held at a city called... Isfahan, I think. In any case, it was in Persia. A group of Chinese players went to Persia to play, in the name of diplomatic relations or something like that. The Shah had this fabulous trophy made, or so they say, because no one has seen it for hundreds of years. The story goes that against all expectations the Chinese won and took this trophy home. The road is very long and dangerous, especially in those high mountains.

  “They say that none of the Chinese ever arrived back in China, nor did the trophy, although it was famous by now and a search was made. It was very valuable, and many men would covet it. The legend also has it that the trophy had strange properties, but again there is little substance to this. It was reported to have reappeared and to be somewhere in India, but no one seems to have seen it. Some say that some Chinese merchants did find a it in India, and were bringing it back to China to present it to the Emperor, but that too is only rumor. The trophy vanished. I know nothing more than that,” he sighed. “At the very least I can go back to my Emperor and tell him of a small success. As for the rest....” He shrugged. “It was just bad Joss, but then you came along, and I am still alive, and so is my son, so who am I to complain?” he smiled at the two enthralled men.

  “I have never heard of this legend before,” Talon said in some wonder. His scalp prickled at the thought of the trophy and the legend.

  *****

  As they sailed, Talon worked very hard to understand the mysteries of navigation, and here he was unexpectedly pleased to find that Rostam was also keen to understand and learn more. Talon could bring some experience to the regular discussions that were held on the deck of the ship as she ploughed a path across the sea towards their destination. He had studied under the tuition of Henry and his friends Nigel and Guy, the captains of his ships in the Middle Sea.

  Captain Al Dandachi, however, had sailed in waters that had few borders, as it were, and crossed vast expanses of ocean that made the Middle Sea look like a large lake. Dandachi invited him to peruse the precious copies of old manuals. Ahbar and al-Maqdisi wrote about the China routes, and Kitab Ma'din al-asrar fi 'ilm al-bihar (The Mine of Secrets in the Science of the Seas) by Shaikh Nasr bin 'Ali al'Haduri contained drawings of the position of the sun above the ship. Many were the days when they would pore over the pages and try to understand what the words meant to someone following the same path as the early navigators.

  Then there were the two other navigational instruments that the captain shared with him. One was the Kamal, which Talon already knew how to use. The captain showed Talon and Rostam an alternative way of using the Kamal, which was to move the knots through the teeth until the piece of horn or wood covered the required star altitude. The captain had added extra knots marking the latitudes of particular ports of call, but he had nothing for the ports of China, having been a very young sailor when he made that journey.

  Finally, he rehearsed them in the use of the astrolabe, which assisted the user to find the rising and setting of fifteen stars. The captain had a list of the latitude of every port and headland that had been recorded in his manuals.

  Another very simple navigational guide that was used by the captains was the position of the sun or North Star above the boat. By standing on various locations on the boat, they could place the sun during daylight or the North Star at night, above right, left or behind the ship. As long as they kept the star or the sun at a correct position above the rigging, the captain assured them, they could know that they would arrive at their destination. Rostam quickly grasped these methods of calculation and could take the measurements even more accurately than Talon.

  Hsü mentioned a strange instrument they used to aid in finding directions and that they called a compass. He promised to show Talon one when they arrived at his country. “This instrument can point with unerring accuracy towards the South, no matter which way the ship itself is heading,” he assured Talon. Captain Dandachi confirmed this. “I have never actually seen one of these instruments, Master Talon, but others have described it. They told me that this is a very useful instrument, especially when you cannot see the sun or the stars.” Talon went away to digest this piece of interesting news.

  They came to the Sea of China which was, according to the captain, the last leg of their journey. Everyone was relieved to hear this, and the fact that they had escaped any rough weather made for a contented ship. Now other vessels were to be seen in the distance, but none came close enough to find out who they might be, or from where. Each time a ship approached, the captain would alert everyone to prepare for pirates, just in case.

  Before a week had passed they sighted land, which Hsü informed them might be the islands called the Gates of China. This was shoal water, dotted with many small islands, so the captain posted lookouts who were very alert to the dangers of grounding the ship. At one point a sailor posted on the top mast shouted down that he could see a shipwreck ahead, which denoted a sandbank.

  “That could be one of the ships that was driven here by the typhoon,” Talon surmised.

  The captain made sure that they gave the stricken vessel a wide berth.

  They passed through the sandbanks and small islands without mishap and sailed out into the open sea once more to head due north. Before long they encountered a growing number of ships, and within a week they were again within
sight of land.

  “This is the great delta of the Zhujiam River. We are in the province of Guangdong,” Hsü announced to them with happy anticipation in his voice. From here on, he assumed the role of ship’s pilot and guided the captain through the maze of large and small islands that dotted the delta. The new obstacles were not only the islands and the numerous sand banks, but the growing number of ships and boats of every shape and size. They passed a large peaked island on their starboard side, which Hsü called Hong Kong. “That used to be where we could find pearls, but no longer. We have to go to your countries for them now,” he remarked. Talon was glad to hear that piece of information; he had a few boxes filled with pearls from the area around Muscat.

  Hsü appeared satisfied that they were on the right course to the port city of Guangzhou. There was a palpable sense of relief on board as everyone realized that they were finally arriving at their destination. The winds became difficult at times, causing the crew to haul in sail and to tack up the delta, but they had no incidents of collisions with other ships, although there were numerous near misses, and on these occasions the passengers heard high-pitched shouting from Chinese sailors as they went bobbing by, which they assumed to be swearing. Gradually the delta narrowed until it became clear that they were sailing up a very wide river. Signs of human habitation became increasingly evident until, after their third day on the river, the banks on either side were lined with villages.

  Talon remarked to Hsü that he could see no walls or defensive areas for a city. At first Hsü looked at him in surprise, and then he shook his head and said, “No, we do not have to have many fortified cities here in the Sung Empire; but in fact, Guangzhou is fortified in the administrative and the temple areas. The major forts are to be found much further north, along the border with our unpleasant neighbors.”

  Talon and Reza were astonished. They had never before come across a culture that did not need to protect itself with high walls, or at least fortresses.

  Hsü guided them unerringly up the river, avoiding the numerous byways and tributaries. The water traffic by now was heavy; Talon had never seen so much shipping before. Not even Byzantium could boast this number of boats, large and small, sailing alongside or floating down river at a fast pace. The captain and the crew were busy all the while making sure there were no collisions.

  “How are there so many people?” Rav’an demanded of Hsü as they sailed on up stream. She was standing with Talon and the others, mesmerized by the huge number of ships on the water and the density of the habitation on land.

  Hsü smiled and said, “It is because of rice.”

  “Rice?” she asked, looking puzzled.

  “Indeed, Lady Rav’an.” Hsü smiled. “We have had our share of famine and starvation in this country, but you see how green it is here? Because of the rice grown here, our children do not starve, and our population has grown.”

  She nodded. It was not only green but humid. Where there were not houses and villages, there was a thick mantle of green trees and dense bamboo thickets on either side of the river, though not as ominously dense as Malaya, while beyond this barrier one could see endless patterns of dykes and fields full of water. They could see large, black, mud-covered buffalo pulling ploughs in the water-filled fields.

  “Is that where they grow the rice?” she asked.

  “Yes. Here in Guangdong province we have some of the richest land in China. We have found ways to obtain two crops a year, sometimes three, and we know how best to plant and harvest. We grow enough rice to feed the rest of the empire,” Hsü told her proudly. “It is grown everywhere now. Hence we have a growing population. There are many millions of us in the Sung Empire alone.” Hsü smiled at them. It was clear that none of them could grasp this number adequately.

  The city itself gradually appeared in the distance, signaling its presence by a haze of smoke-filled air. The buildings alongside the river became larger, taller, and more numerous. Before long they could see a forest of masts of anchored ships in the roads of the river, and long rows of vessels alongside one another near to the quays of the port. Even from this distance they could see that the houses of the city were ornate with red, green, and blue tiled roofs, which gave a very pleasant effect of a mottled sea that rose and fell with the streets, some of which were broad avenues, others narrow alleyways.

  “The number of people!” Rav’an exclaimed. “It is teeming, like an ants’ nest. I have never seen such a place before! Listen to them, they make a noise like bees!”

  The others of their little group were equally impressed. They stood on the starboard side above the steering deck in awed silence as they looked over at the largest city any of them had ever seen. Talon, who had seen large cities before, was struck by several things. The first was the total lack of any form of protection around the port of the city: no towers or walls or any other construction with which to mount a defense. However, he could see, set well back from the busy riverbank, high walls that seemed imposing enough. He observed that Guangzhou didn’t compare well to the incredibly beautiful city of Constantinople. That golden city was perched on its hills overlooking the sea, upon which temples, arenas, and palaces of white stone with golden rooftops were prominent. Even so, this Chinese city’s sheer size was overwhelming; it was laid out on a series of low hills, upon which were very large multiple-storied houses and temples, each with an imposing tiled roof with its edges depicting strange creatures or ornate carved shapes. It was an impressive sight to the newcomers.

  People seemed to be everywhere, both on land and on the river, which Hsü informed them was known as the Pearl River. The huge number of small boats, filled either with the day’s catch of fish or passengers, plying back and forth across the river, presented a real hazard to larger boats trying to sail upstream or down. The wharfs and warehouses swarmed with laborers, porters, builders, and craftsmen as well as sailors.

  “It appears that they have many thousands of slaves to do all the menial work,” Reza remarked.

  Fuling, who was standing nearby overheard him and said, “We do have some slaves, but what you are seeing are the people of the city, not slaves. Father told me that in your country when you have battles and win, you take many slaves and make them build your cities?”

  Talon nodded, he remembered only too well the galley slaves in Egypt and the Saracen slaves in Palestine, and, indeed, in Byzantium. “You don’t appear to have a lack of people to do the work of many,” he responded.

  They stayed out of the captain’s way as he shouted orders to the crew, who ran to shorten sail and take down the mainsail. He was guided by Hsü towards a spot where there were several other ships similar to theirs, anchored in the river.

  *****

  The anchors were down and the ship secured fore and aft. It was time for their guests to leave. As they came on deck with their meagre belongings, Hsü caught the look that Talon directed at the box under his arm. They looked into one another’s eyes for a brief moment of complete understanding, and then, as though it had not happened, Hsü walked up to him and pressed a small cloth-wrapped package into his hand.

  “This is for the transport fee. I think you will find it adequate. Do not worry, Talon. I will not desert you,” he said in a low voice only for Talon to hear.

  “You will have to wait here for perhaps a day or so before an official will come and discuss the reason for you being here. This is quite normal. I have to get ashore as soon as possible and tell my family that we have returned. After that I shall make sure you are taken care of.”

  “In the meantime,” he continued, “please do not leave the ship and do not go ashore, as the customs officers don’t like it and might arrest you. Jiaya here will come back as soon as I can arrange it and tell you what needs to be done.”

  He borrowed two men from the captain as an escort, promising to ensure they came back safely.

  After bidding them all goodbye, he departed with Fuling, Jiaya and Lihua in the boat that the captain had
lowered into he water. Hsü was carrying his precious box. They were rowed over to the busy docks and disappeared into the crowd on the quayside, leaving the others on the ship wondering what would happen to them next.

  “Well, we have finally come to the fabled country of China!” Talon remarked at large. Rostam was hanging over the side staring at the passing sampans, while the others were gazing in a bemused fashion at the shore. Even out here the din of activity came clearly across the dirty brown water of the river.

  “I want to know when we can get off this boat and have a real bath!” Rav’an said wistfully.

  Jannat gave a nervous laugh. “Yes, I would like that too. I hope he has not abandoned us to the fates.”

  “I, as well,” Reza said, without much confidence.

  “If I remember the last time we came here, the customs men were not pleasant people, Master Reza. We are indeed at the mercy or our former guest now,” the captain said. “Insha’Allah we will come under Master Hsü’s protection and do well. We will certainly need his help,” he sounded unhappy.

  Talon felt the small package in his sash. He had a shrewd idea what it might contain.

  PART II

  On my clothes the dust of travel mingles with wine stains

  a distant journey—no place that doesn’t jar the soul!

  And I—am I really meant to be a poet?

  In fine rain straddling a donkey I enter the Great Sword Gate.

  —Lu Yu

  Chapter Eighteen

  Guangzhou

  Hua Rong, Chief of the Police for the city of Guangzhou, stood at the open window of his office within a tall building overlooking the wider part of the river, the docks and the Arab quarter. The shutters, which were there to cut the bright sunlight, were today wide open. It gave him a good view of the cluster of Arab ships anchored near to the wharfs that were reserved for their ships. Further upstream he could see the sea-going Chinese ships anchored in the river or tied alongside the numerous wharfs of the main city dockside.