Chapter 28: A Promise Like Ji Bu

The next day when Diwu Lun rose, he noticed his grandfather looking at him rather oddly.

"Oh no — did I get carried away drinking last night and spout some nonsense I shouldn't have?"

Diwu Lun felt a little guilty. He thought back carefully, but could only remember pointing at the fortified manor's main gate and boasting a few lines.

He was just mulling over how to explain without frightening Diwu Ba, when the old man suddenly sighed and said, "My grandson has great ambition!"

Diwu Lun thought, This is bad — but luckily Diwu Ba's next words let him breathe easy: "Last night you said you would build the tallest pillars of merit and honor for the Diwu clan — isn't that the ambition to become one of the Four Advisors or Three Excellencies?"

Diwu Ba stroked his beard. "To have ambition when young is a fine thing. I won't hide it from you — back in the day, this old man even had the ambition to be enfeoffed as a marquis!"

He started recounting his experience of joining the army in his youth again: "In the time of Emperor Zhao of Han, there was a man named Fu Jiezi. He began as a student of the classics, but at fourteen he threw aside his books and sighed, saying, 'A true man should win merit in distant lands — how can he sit around as a scattered scholar?' So he went as an envoy to the Western Regions, cut off the head of the King of Loulan, and was enfeoffed as Marquis of Yiyang."

Diwu Ba cursed. "This old man wanted to emulate him, but I missed the right moment. By the time I joined the ranks, winning merit on the frontier no longer easily brought a marquisate — instead, studying Confucian arts was the way to high office."

Having drunk the wrong chicken soup, Diwu Ba had perfectly missed the era's turning tide, and could only pin his hopes on the next generation.

"Boyu, you're different. You've just turned eighteen and have already been nominated as Filial and Incorrupt. Once you enter the capital, you'll be a two-hundred-dan Palace Gentleman. If you live to this old man's age, whether a marquisate or the Four Advisors and Three Excellencies — you can set your sights on them!"

Diwu Lun realized that the direction of Diwu Ba's expectations seemed to have deviated a little from reality, so he cleared his throat and said, "Grandfather, though I am to enter court as a gentleman, our family's focus must remain on Diwu Village and Linqu Township. I believe turmoil in the realm is only a matter of time — this official post may not last long."

"What do you mean, 'not last long'? Ill-omened words — I don't like hearing them. Take them back!"

Diwu Lun had no choice but to shut his mouth.

"Whether this world will fall into chaos or not, this old man does not know."

Diwu Ba still did not take it too seriously. With good news piling up lately, he was simply too optimistic and grew bolder by the day, so he also spoke a big line: "Go to Chang'an with peace of mind. While you are away, whether Linqu falls into chaos or not — the Diwu name will have the final say!"

…

In the blink of an eye, it was the end of the ninth month. Diwu Lun formally received the commandery's document ordering him to report to the capital by the first day of the tenth month.

Parting was imminent, but Diwu Lun did not feel too much reluctance — simply because the two places were extremely close.

Changling and Chang'an city were separated only by the Wei River, a straight-line distance of roughly fifty li, equivalent to just over twenty kilometers in later times. With a light carriage and fast horses, one could make a round trip in a single day. Any news could be relayed in time, and during rest days he could return home to lead the clansmen in farming and building wealth.

In the agricultural era, accomplishing anything at all was exceedingly slow. There was no need to tie himself down to this tiny plot of land — it would be good to go to Chang'an and see the center of the age.

But before Diwu Lun could set out, a great crowd of people arrived outside, all bowing at the gate and clamoring to see him.

Diwu Lun came outside the fortified manor to look and saw that most of them wore brown clothes and cloth caps — all of them sturdy young men, along with a few unkempt youths barely past the capping age. Without exception, every one of them carried a blade or sword at the waist, though some were new and some old, and some had only an empty scabbard for show.

Diwu Ge whispered a few words in his ear, and Diwu Lun understood: most of this crowd were the idle, rowdy youths who had once followed the Seventh Biao brothers.

"Gentlemen, what business brings you to my home?"

The crowd raised their heads and answered with hearty laughter: "We have come, of course, drawn by your reputation, wishing to follow you, Master Diwu, and ride with you!"

It turned out that after the story of the righteous breaking of the strong bow had spread, and with the connection to the great knight-errant of the Maoling plain, Diwu Lun's renown had gained, beyond "filial and fraternal duty," a certain flavor of chivalry. The young knights-errant who had recently broken away from the Seventh clan now swarmed to him like flies chasing a stench.

Diwu Lun, however, was not overjoyed at this swelling of his influence. He had his own judgment.

By class division, these idle young knights-errant, with no source of livelihood and loafing about the countryside, could be counted as "lumpenproletariat."

Though all were propertyless, they were by no means allies of the laboring proletariat — rather, they stood in opposition.

Those like Wan Xiu who truly acted with chivalrous righteousness were exceedingly rare. Most merely relied on the swords in their hands to collect protection fees in the village lanes, their mouths full of soaring honor while in truth they bullied the weak. If they became retainers to some noble, it was even worse — they would often rely on their master's prestige and influence to commit outrages against women and honest folk.

Once taken in, these men were double-edged swords — mishandled, they could ruin you until you vomited blood.

Diwu Lun had heard of such an incident: back when Emperor Wu of Han relocated powerful families to the imperial tombs north of the Wei, the great knight-errant of Guandong, Guo Jie, was also on the relocation list. Guo Jie himself was clever enough to know he had become a thorn in the authorities' eye. After moving, he kept a low profile — he did not ride in carriages when going out, did not drink at night, and tucked his tail between his legs, seeking only peace. No matter how overbearing he was, he could not afford to provoke the Emperor!

But the idle knights under Guo Jie did not understand! The great Guo Jie, whose benevolence matched Heaven itself — how could he suffer such an injustice? So they took it upon themselves to right the wrong, tracked down the county clerk who had placed Guo Jie on the "relocation" list, and brutally murdered him. The clerk's family went to the court to file a complaint. Just as they reached outside the gate towers of Weiyang Palace, Guo Jie's underlings actually rushed over in broad daylight and killed them too!

With knights-errant so brazen, utterly beyond the court's control — tomorrow would they storm Weiyang and seize the throne?

Guo Jie was therefore arrested and imprisoned. However, he had connections with many powerful nobles, and there was still hope for a pardon.

But while Guo Jie was in prison, a Confucian scholar in Chang'an city spoke a few ill words of him — and was promptly silenced by indignant retainers who cut out his tongue and hung his head in the street. Such a posture — was this not a direct threat to the Emperor?

Once, twice, thrice — Emperor Wu of Han flew into a towering rage and declared, "Though Jie did not know of it, this crime is graver than if Jie had killed them himself." The gist was that Guo Jie had to answer for the actions of his little fans, and so the entire Guo clan was exterminated.

And thus, those fanatical underlings, in the name of "doing it for the great Guo Jie's own good," sent Guo Jie down a road of no return.

Diwu Lun and Diwu Ba did things with method and discipline, able to restrain the villagers and clansmen, build high walls, and store ample grain. But if these men came under their roof and refused to obey orders, pulling off some "great deed" under the Diwu name, it would instead be a disaster.

So Diwu Lun cupped his hands toward the crowd and politely declined their offer of allegiance.

"I am hurrying to Chang'an and cannot bring too many companions. I appreciate the goodwill of you knights, and I accept it in spirit."

This crowd had come for free meals in the first place, so they clamored that though they could not follow Diwu Lun, they were willing to guard the Diwu fortified manor for him — to watch the house and protect the gate, becoming his retainers and dependents.

But the Diwu clan already had its own dependents and clansmen, many of them house-born servants whose backgrounds were fully known — were they not far more reliable than this bunch of strangers?

Diwu Lun had Diwu Ge step forward and simply say that the household did not have enough grain — the meaning was already very clear.

The crowd looked at one another, all rather disappointed. Someone below then rose angrily and sneered: "Everyone says Diwu Lun is filial, fraternal, and chivalrous — yet today we see that for the sake of a few measures of grain, he refuses to take us in! Is the Diwu clan the only powerful house in Changling? Gentlemen, let us go — we shall offer our service to another family!"

With that, he walked off cursing.

Trying to morally blackmail him? Diwu Lun did not keep them. The crowd scattered in all directions — not a single one hesitated, it turned out. Watching them, Diwu Lun could only shake his head. All under Heaven bustles for profit — sure enough, not one of them had come for so-called "chivalrous honor."

After they had all left, Diwu Ba deliberately asked him in a low voice, "Lun'er, aren't you always saying the realm is going to fall into chaos? Wouldn't a few more hands be a good thing?"

Diwu Lun smiled. "Better to go without than to fill the ranks with riffraff."

Besides, he had not been lying — the household's shortfall in money and grain was already enormous. How could they add these dozens of big-eating mouths, who would do no proper work for years on end?

Diwu Ba thoroughly approved of Diwu Lun's choice and said with a laugh, "You did right! When this old man traveled to Xiagui in my youth, I heard the story of Commandant of Justice Zhai. When Zhai held high office, the courtyard of his home bustled like a market, so packed the gate could not even close. But once he was dismissed, the retainers who had once been so full of professions of loyalty all fled, and outside his gate it grew so desolate you could set nets to catch birds."

Diwu Lun nodded. "I would guess that when Zhai took office again, those retainers who had betrayed him came bowing at his gate once more?"

"Exactly!" Diwu Ba said. "So Zhai drove them all away and even wrote three lines outside his main gate."

"Which three lines?"

Diwu Ba glared and thought for a long moment, then said, "Forgot. I only remember something about 'one noble, one humble — only then is true friendship revealed.'"

Indeed — though these lumpenproletarians, if properly guided, could be forged into a force, their loyalty was never as fine as the words on their lips. The moment their master met a setback, they would turn coat and flee.

And when Diwu Lun truly needed to make use of them in the future, he was confident.

"When the dogs are hungry, they'll come back!"

…

This little interlude delayed Diwu Lun by a few quarters of an hour. By the time Diwu Ba saw him off to the fork where the village road met the main highway, they discovered the place was already jammed with carriages and horses — it turned out that every person of standing in the entire township had come to send Diwu Lun off.

From the village Elders and Diligent Farmers to his many relatives, all spoke words of blessing, broke off willow branches to pin on Diwu Lun, and toasted him to send him on his way.

At the end, following the custom of the age, everyone came forward one after another to offer parting money — red envelopes for the journey.

It is said that over two hundred years ago, in the Qin dynasty, when the Han founder Liu Bang was still a minor Precinct Chief escorting conscripts to Xianyang, colleagues like Xiao He and Cao Shen also gave him parting money. Since minor county clerks had little salary, most people gave only one or two hundred; those with deep ties gave three hundred.

But Xiao He alone gave five hundred — an act Liu Bang remembered for many years. When the realm was pacified and the Han dynasty founded, not only did he make Xiao He his foremost meritorious official, but on top of his enfeoffed households and stipend lands, he added another two thousand households, as repayment for those two hundred extra coins Xiao He had given back then.

Xiao He's gift was charcoal in the snow; the red envelopes the various families stuffed into Diwu Lun's hands today can only count as flowers on brocade. Still, they did manage to bloom into quite a few gaudy varieties.

For instance, Diliu Du, on behalf of his family, presented ten thousand in parting money, plus a certain amount of grain.

Diwu Lun accepted gladly. "This truly solves my most pressing need — grain is exactly what my household lacks."

As for Diqi Biao, he gave ten thousand in parting money, along with twenty or thirty blades and weapons from his family's collection, loaded onto a large cart.

Diwu Lun picked up a blade and tested it, then said with satisfaction, "Brothers may quarrel at home, but together they fend off insult from without. With these extra weapons while I am away, and the Diwu and Diqi families joining hands, I need not fear outsiders bullying our clan!"

Diba Zhi offered ten thousand in parting money and, with an original touch, copied out several scrolls of his family's transmitted Han Songs, carefully wrapped in silk and presented them to Diwu Lun — a treasured family heirloom.

Delight showed on Diwu Lun's face. "I have heard it said that once one has mastered the classics, grasping the blue and purple official ribbons is as easy as stooping to pick up a blade of grass. What you have given me is not mere scrolls, but a splendid future."

This young man was far too skilled with words, leaving every family feeling as though bathed in spring breezes.

When it came to Disi Xian's turn, his family was straightforward and blunt: nothing but money, and more money — he handed over twenty thousand in parting money in one go! Although the value of coinage had plummeted in recent years, this was still no small sum.

What came next was even more extravagant. Disi Xian held up a key for all to see, then solemnly placed it in Diwu Lun's hands. "There is also a residence in the Xuanming Quarter within Chang'an, a property my family purchased. It stands unoccupied at present. While you are in Chang'an, Boyu, you may use it as you please!"

No matter the era, for a young man from the provinces to settle in the capital is no easy matter. Buying a house is out of the question — for many, impossible even after a lifetime of toil. And rent, food, even firewood, are all ruinously expensive.

Diwu Lun smiled. "Uncle, you have saved me a great deal of money."

Then he added in jest, "But let us be clear from the start — is this a loan on credit, or an interest-bearing debt?"

Disi Xian burst out laughing. "Palace Gentleman Diwu, by now it is already a bribe!"

He was not wrong. This parting money had already surpassed normal social obligation; it was protection money paid by each family to the Diwu clan, and an investment in Diwu Lun's future.

As the first Filial and Incorrupt candidate from this township in two hundred years, Diwu Lun carried the high hopes of many — when one man achieves the Dao, even his chickens and dogs ascend to heaven. If he could rise to office, he would bring considerable convenience to the clan, especially the Disi family, who, after falling out with the Diyi, urgently needed a new patron to secure their trade routes.

Seeing the Disi family so sensible, Diwu Lun decided that on his next return, he would arrange a proper talk with Disi Xian. Every scheme he had so far conceived for amassing wealth and stockpiling grain required the participation of merchants.

The head of the Disan family, named "Disan Ci," had been pushed to the very end. Seeing the other families present either novel gifts or heavy sums, while his own family's money fell short of ten thousand, he could not help feeling some shame and fear, dreading that Diwu Lun might be displeased.

Diwu Lun, however, took no offense and accepted it with equal gravity. "The Disan family numbers barely a hundred souls, yet you have gifted me ten thousand coins — the equivalent of every household paying an extra poll tax. This goodwill, Boyu will remember!"

By now the sun was three poles high, and the farewell ceremony had ended. The Diyi family, who held the post of township Bailiff, had still sent no one — they meant to play dead to the bitter end.

Diwu Lun sneered inwardly. It seemed they still clung to the faded glory of their family's past. In that case, he would go the whole hog and push the Diyi family to the margins entirely!

Turning such calculations over in his mind, Diwu Lun gazed at the "colossal sum" before him, which would require an entire cart to haul away, and a bold idea took shape in his head.

"The ancients said: a thousand taels of gold cannot buy a single promise from Ji Bu."

"And a promise from Boyu — how much is that worth?"

…

PS: Begging for recommendation votes.