New Tales of the Great Wall
Christopher
iu was a modest farmer. When he smiled, wrinkles formed around his eyes. At dawn he rose, at dusk he
retired.
and
grab
Lo, Group 3: Fiction, Korean International School
It was 1200AD. Liu had some fertile soil and prospered in the area. On an ordinary day, Liu
his wife saw a few Mongolians raiding his ox farm. Desperate, he told his wife, “Stay inside!” Liu
bed a pitchfork and defended himself. He managed to rout the raiders and decided to grab all the
food he could and left the farm.
L
Along with his wife, he retreated to Xi’an. He used his food to exchange for ten acres of fertile land
and started all over again. He was again happy with his wife and gave birth to a son called Tang. Life was full of
sweat and joy until a few months later, his wife died of an unknown disease. He was extremely saddened by her
death. He finally decided to ask his uncle to look after the farm and his son. Liu joined the army.
Liu was stationed as a Royal Retainer in Xi’an. Liu described Xi’an as a City of the Heavens and wrote
a lot of books in the great city. His books were popular in the army and many people wanted to be stationed in
Xi’an after reading his books. This in fact reached the Imperial Court, the judges ordered to burn all books to
prevent people from overcrowding the city. The squalor was starting to become extremely high. Liu was furious
and incited a huge revolt in Xi’an. He led thousands of men. He made his own banner with a tiger. His rebellion
pillaged the area around Xi’an his rebellion grew in size. They finally encountered Genghis Khan. Genghis
Khan and his army crossed the border – the Great Wall.
During his frustrating meeting with the Mongol leader, they came to terms and decided to work
together to capture the city of Xi’an and the rebels would give all the other areas of China to them. After the
sack of Xi’an, they killed all the judges of the Imperial Court and they beheaded the Emperor. Liu decided to
rule a republic. The people were content and Xi’an focused more on culture and crafts.
During the rebel occupation, rich people suffered and the middle and lower classes got richer. Imperial
rebels marched one hundred thousand men in an attempt to besiege Xi’an. The siege was soon over as the
Imperial rebels retreated due to high losses. Liu had called that siege an extremely typical assault. Liu marched
his powerful army to defeat the Imperial rebels and soon his republic had absolute control over Xi’an and other
areas.
Five years later, the republic began to fall apart. Politicians were bribed. Corruption was large and they
treated the peasants like slaves. One thing that Liu knew was that his son came of age to fight. Liu and Tang
eradicated the republic and became monarchs. Liu and Tang had equal power and they restored order in the area.
Tang asked his father, “We must go against the Mongols. “ Liu agreed and decided to recapture the Wall of
China.
It wasn’t an easy victory. Arrows flew across the sky, swords clashed, horses fell. After those bloody
battles, they recaptured the Great Wall. Liu was injured in the battle. An arrow went into his left knee. He would
want Tang to lead the army but Tang was too young. Tang and his troops managed to capture Northern China
and Liu was proud of his son. Liu was in better condition after eight months and he wanted to rule half of the
area leaving the other half for Tang to control. Tang fell in love with a woman called Ming.
Ming was a beauty with very silky black hair and sparkling eyes. She sang and danced beautifully and
loved to wear colorful clothings made of expensive silk with matching jewellery. She had a mean character. Liu
did not think that Tang marrying her was a good idea. Tang did not listen to his father and married her with an
abundant feast in the palace. Over 60,000 people joined the feast. A lot of Liu’s money was used to pay for the
wedding and the feast, people feasted like kings in the feast.
Liu turned his attention to fortify the Great Wall. He forced the prisoners to build outer defenses to
scare the nomads away.
Liu was 56 years old now. Tang was 22. Xi’an was getting bigger and richer. A lot of officials were
needed to run Xi’an, so Liu appointed many people from the higher classed to become officials. Tang defended
the Great Wall and two provinces. Tang was secretly plotting against his father; he wanted to take the throne for
himself! One of Tang’s loyal bodyguards dashed to Xi’an to uncover the truth. When Liu heard this, he was
heartbroken. His son was plotting against him. He called Tang to Xi’an and had him executed. Liu got back the
Great Wall, the 2 provinces and Tang’s army.