The Fifth Book of Bao Dan: The Campaign of the Monkey

When Jen Shu descended with his retinue from the Pillars of Heaven and unto the Wide Land, he began his Campaign of the Monkey. The first battle that the Golden Tribe waged was against the Oni named Hako One-Eye. Jen Shu slew him and tarred his head and hung it by the hair from his horse so that all would see and hear the silent testimony of him who was killed. The tribe added 10 horses to its Bataro and 20 women to its Ordaru in this way.

From that day onward, from the first of his battles to the last, Jen Shu offered the parley that was his signature. To those who accepted the silent testimony of the tarred head of Hako the Oni, and surrendered unconditionally, Jen Shu offered peace. The men and their favorite horses would have the right to be abluted in the waters of the Lake of the Clouds and become Bataro. The rest of the horses would be added to those of the tribe. To the women of his rivals, he offered the right to place their left hand on his mother's Stela and so join his Ordaru. They then would be given as spoils to the mightiest and most capable of his war group. To the rival Warlords he offered only a swift death and the honor to have their heads carried from the horses of his tribe as Hako the Oni had been. In this manner, they would live forever and their names would be remembered.

But if they rejected his overture of surrender, Jen Shu offered neither quarter nor mercy. He would prosecute his enemies until they were dead. He would pile the bodies of the men and burn them as an offering to the Huang Spirits. The horses he would keep and the women such as could not eventually prove themselves he would sell for profit. The Warlords though, would be torn asunder and scattered to the winds. They were not Oni that they should be remembered as foes, so neither they nor their tribes would be remembered by any still alive.

By the end of the Year of the Monkey, in Jen Shu's Campaign he had eliminated three tribes from the Sea of Grass. And, true to his word, there are none alive who remember their names or the names of their Warlord. But, at the start of the Year of the Cock when Jen Shu's Golden Tribe took Census, they had 97 warriors and 300 horses in their Bataro and 50 women in the Ordaru. And the Golden Tribe carried the heads of

Hako the Oni

Hyun Shik the Wise of the Red Stone People

Two years later, when the Year of the Mouse had come, Jen Shu's Golden Tribe took Census, they had eliminated nine tribes from the Sea of Grass whose names no one remembers. They had 240 warriors and 580 horses in their Bataro. They had 200 women in the Ordaru. And the Golden Tribe carried the heads of

Hako the Oni

Hyun Shik the Wise of the Red Stone People

Kang Shin of the Spotted Horse.

Five years after that, in the Year of the Bajang the Golden Tribe took Census. They had eliminated twelve tribes from the Sea of Grass and there are none alive who know their names. They had 500 warriors and 1350 horses in their Bataro. They had 350 women in the Ordaru. And the Golden Tribe carried the heads of

Hako the Oni

Hyun Shik the Wise of the Red Stone People

Kang Shin of the Spotted Horse

Chun Mul of the Red Tribe, slayer of a Gaki

In the Year of the Hsing, word came to Jen Shu that children of the Golden Tribe who had gone that Spring to be abluted in the Lake of the Clouds and to lay their left hand upon the Stela of his mother; and who had been joined by such men who were pledged Andari, along with the women of rival tribes which had stolen away in the night; were taken and cruely slain at the foot of the Pillars of Heaven. This was done by Grothak the Gaki. He learned further, that a pile was made of their bones and over which pile was placed a banner of the Golden Tribe.

So Jen Shu rode with his Bataro and his Ordaru and coming to the Pillars by the first snow, set their Gergs on the shore of the Lake of the Clouds. There he left his Golden Tribe and taking nine companions set out to find the Oni named Grothmak and his band. So the Campaign of the Monkey of Jen Shu was ended and the Campaign of the Five Gaki Warlords was begun.