The crowd of refugees gathered outside the gates of Suzhou city grew larger and larger, all of them fleeing with their elderly and children, carrying their families and belongings.
After a journey filled with fear and panic, they finally reached Suzhou city. Seeing the city before them, they couldn’t help but smile, feeling a sense of relief as their hearts, which had been in their throats, settled back into place.
“We’ve reached Suzhou city. We’re saved. We don’t have to worry about being killed by the sudden appearance of the pirates anymore.”
“Mother, we’ve made it to Suzhou city. We’re safe now.”
The refugees who had fled to the gates of Suzhou city couldn’t hold back their tears of relief and joy.
But before their smiles could fully bloom, they received a thunderous piece of news from the refugees who had arrived earlier, dousing their excitement with a bucket of cold water:
The gates of Suzhou city were closed!
The newcomers refused to believe it and rushed forward, only to find the gates tightly shut. No matter how hard they pushed, knocked, shouted, or even slammed against the heavy, iron-clad gates, they remained unmoved.
“The pirates are coming. To prevent a surprise attack, the gates are closed. No one is allowed in or out.”
“Leave quickly!”
The guards’ warnings echoed from inside the gates, urging the refugees gathered outside to disperse.
“Officers, sirs, please, have mercy! Open the gates and let us in! The pirates are coming, and if you don’t open the gates, we’ll all die. Please, we beg you!”
“Please, open the gates! We don’t want to die. Let us in!”
“Officers, sirs, we’re kneeling and kowtowing to you. The pirates are coming. Please, have mercy and let us into the city. Save our lives! Saving a life is worth more than building a seven-story pagoda. Saving so many of us will earn you enough merit for your entire family to ascend to heaven!”
The refugees outside the gates pounded on the doors, pleading desperately with the guards inside to open the gates and let them in. Many knelt on the ground, kowtowing until their foreheads bled. But no matter how much they begged or how many kind words they spoke, the gates remained firmly shut.
“There are hundreds of thousands of people inside the city. We are responsible for their lives. What if there are pirates hiding among you, or what if the pirates suddenly appear while we’re opening the gates?!”
“Leave now! Go find somewhere else to take shelter. Don’t gather here anymore!”
The guards inside grew increasingly impatient, having explained themselves too many times. Eventually, they stopped explaining altogether and simply ordered the refugees to leave.
“Open the gates! Open the gates!”
“If you don’t open them, we’ll break them down!”
The refugees outside grew more and more desperate. Their pleas turned to threats, and then to action. They pounded on the gates with their fists, kicked them with their feet, and even picked up bricks and stones to hurl at the gates.
But no matter how hard they tried, the gates of Suzhou city were too sturdy, reinforced with iron. This was no shoddy construction. Even battering rams would struggle to break through, let alone a few bricks in the hands of desperate refugees.
Their hands bled from the effort, but the gates remained unmoved, bearing only shallow scratches that barely marred the surface.
“Open the gates! Please, even if it’s just for my mother and child!”
“Mother, I’m scared. Are we going to die here? I still want to see the New Year’s fireworks… Wuwuwu…”
The refugees outside wailed in despair. At first, it was just the children crying, but soon the women and elderly joined in, until the entire crowd was weeping. The sound of their cries rose like a tidal wave, threatening to drown out everything else.
Every moment, more refugees arrived at the gates of Suzhou city, fleeing their homes. Upon learning that the gates were closed and would not open, they too joined the sea of despairing cries.
For a time, the cries of men, women, and children outside the city walls were deafening, so loud they seemed to shake the very foundations of the walls.
“What’s happening down there?”
Suzhou Prefect Shang Weichi was on his way to inspect the city’s defenses when he heard the overwhelming cries from below. He quickened his pace, climbed the city walls, and looked down to see what was happening.
What he saw was a crowd of tens of thousands of refugees weeping in despair at the base of the city walls.
“Are these refugees from the nearby villages and towns?!”
Prefect Shang, seeing the weeping masses—carrying their elderly, their children, and their belongings—immediately understood.
“Damn it! Why haven’t the gates been opened to let these people in?” Prefect Shang was furious.
“Your Excellency, we can’t open the gates! The pirates are cunning. Who knows if there are pirates hiding among these refugees? The pirates have disguised themselves as refugees to trick their way into cities before. And with so many refugees—tens of thousands—even if we opened the gates, it would take too long to get them all inside. If the pirates suddenly attacked while the gates were open, with so many refugees in the way, it would be nearly impossible to close the gates in time. The pirates could easily seize the gates. And then it wouldn’t just be these tens of thousands of refugees at risk—the hundreds of thousands inside the city would also fall into the pirates’ clutches. The consequences would be catastrophic.”
“There are hundreds of thousands of people inside the city, and only tens of thousands outside. The choice is clear.”
“Your Excellency, please prioritize the hundreds of thousands inside the city. Think of the bigger picture. The gates cannot be opened.”
The officials and generals accompanying Prefect Shang turned pale at the suggestion of opening the gates. They rushed forward, pleading with him not to do so.
“But if we don’t open the gates, aren’t we abandoning the people outside? If the pirates come, they’ll have no chance of survival. This is unacceptable…” Prefect Shang shook his head, his heart heavy with guilt.
“Your Excellency, if we open the gates, we’ll be putting the lives of the people inside the city at risk. There are at most twenty thousand refugees outside, but hundreds of thousands inside—thirty times as many!”
“Just now, you saw how the guards panicked and struggled to close the gates, even though the pirates haven’t arrived yet. If we open the gates now to let the refugees in, and the pirates suddenly attack, the consequences would be unimaginable. None of us could bear that responsibility.”
The officials pleaded with him, terrified that Prefect Shang would insist on opening the gates.
“Sigh…”
Prefect Shang closed his eyes and pondered for a long time before letting out a deep sigh. He finally relented and stopped insisting on opening the gates.
The refugees outside continued to beg, curse, and weep. Some, seeing that the gates before them would not open, moved along the walls to try their luck at another gate. But the result was the same—every gate they tried was tightly shut, and none would open. In despair, they circled the city, weeping as they went.
