Chapter 1: Common Ranker, Show Your Identity Card!

In the twentieth year of King Zheng of Qin (227 BC), ninth month, in Anlu County, Nan Commandery of the State of Qin, evening was falling. Rain began to fall by the shores of Cloud Dream Marsh, stirring ripple after ripple on the lake and lashing the plantain leaves into disarray. Only the drops that fell on the inn's roof were grudgingly blocked by the tiles.

Inside a crude lakeside inn, the innkeeper—a man with graying temples, called a "lodging keeper"—was bustling about, humming a Chu folk tune. Then he heard barking outside, followed by heavy knocking at the door.

"Someone's come at this late hour," he cursed, before shuffling slowly over to open the door.

"Many thanks, old sir!"

The visitor ducked inside in a sorry state. He wore a soaking-wet coarse brown jacket, trousers underneath, and straw sandals on his feet. A wooden stick served as a hairpin, fixing his topknot to the left side of his head. When he raised his head, one saw dark skin, square features, thick brows, large eyes, and a beardless chin—a young commoner of seventeen or eighteen…

The young man wiped the rain from his face, revealing a row of white teeth. He bowed to the innkeeper with clasped hands and said, "Old sir, the rain has blocked the road. I wish to stay a night at the inn."

"Do you have a check-token and a travel pass?"

The moment he heard the man wanted a room, the innkeeper transformed from an ordinary country old man into a shrewd operator, his eyes darting to the short sword at the young man's waist.

"I have them."

The young man bent down and rummaged in his satchel, carefully taking out a "check-token" made of poplar wood and a "travel pass" whittled from a willow slip. Only when he saw the writing had not been smudged by the rain did he sigh in relief and hand them over with both hands, introducing himself at the same time.

"I am a common ranker from Cloud Dream Township, Anlu County. Old sir may call me Heifu!"

"Heifu?"

The innkeeper had many acquaintances in Cloud Dream Township but had never heard of this person. His gaze shifted back and forth between the check-token and Heifu's face with such intensity that Heifu had the illusion of being stopped by a policeman in his previous life. For a moment, cold sweat poured from him…

Heifu could not help feeling guilty, because his identity could be called real, yet could also be called fake!

As it turned out, he was no longer the original Qin native "Heifu." He had been a student at a provincial police academy in the twenty-first century. After graduation, he had passed the exam for a post at a county police station. While celebrating with friends by a lake, he had drowned trying to save a little boy who had fallen into the water.

When he woke again, he found himself lying on a hard bed, surrounded by a group of "strangers" in rustic clothing who were fussing over him with concern.

Only later did he learn that these were his mother, elder brother, younger brother, and so on. He had probably encountered that clichéd plot device from novels called "time travel," and had been thrown back over two thousand years in one go, becoming a youth named "Heifu" in Anlu County of the State of Qin!

"Heifu—isn't that the Qin soldier from that 'earliest surviving family letter in China'?"

He had seen some programs reporting on the Yunmeng Qin bamboo slips and was especially impressed by the "Heifu wooden tablets." He had never expected that he would become the author of that letter…

Thinking of his future made him shudder. The television program said that Heifu had written the letter in an army camp. The two brothers were merely ordinary Qin foot soldiers. Not only did they have to carry out combat duties, but they also lacked clothing and food. They had to write home asking for money to buy clothes, saying that if no money was sent, someone was going to die! Urgent, urgent, urgent!

Whether the clothes and money Heifu asked for ever arrived, later generations have no way of knowing. But one thing archaeologists are certain of: during excavation, the tomb contained only this letter and no remains of Heifu. In other words, Heifu most likely died in Qin's war to conquer Chu, leaving behind only this letter, which his family kept as a memento and placed in the tomb…

"I'll die on the battlefield, with no bones left to bury?"

Heifu began racking his brains for a way to avoid the fate of dying in battle. Before he could come up with any clear idea, the local village chief (village head) suddenly came knocking, demanding to see him by name!

It turned out that Heifu had turned seventeen this year. According to the laws of Qin, as an adult male, he was required to "register on the rolls"—that is, to have his household name registered and to assume the obligation of service.

This threw Heifu into a panic. He thought he was about to be conscripted onto the battlefield. Although he had received some training at the police academy in his previous life and had seen blood during his internship, fighting one-on-one was one thing, and fighting in a battle where thousands were slaughtering each other was another.

His eldest brother, Zhong, laughed heartily upon hearing his worries and cleared up Heifu's doubts.

Qin was actually quite thorough in this regard. For his first-ever term of service, Heifu only needed to go to Anlu County town and serve one month as a "rotation conscript," helping the authorities repair walls, stand guard, or undergo military training. He would not be sent to the battlefield. Only then did Heifu breathe a sigh of relief.

The final deadline for the rotation conscripts to assemble in Anlu County was the first day of the tenth month. It was already the end of the ninth month, and the service period was bearing down like fire. Heifu had no choice but to hurriedly pack his bags and set out.

When they bid farewell outside the village gate, his mother and eldest brother Zhong gave him a thousand warnings and a thousand instructions. This gave Heifu—who had lost his mother young in his previous life and had a lonely childhood—a trace of familial warmth, and he began to gradually accept this identity…

By this point, Heifu felt much more at ease. He thought, "Since I'm here, I may as well settle in. Anyway, that great battle that will decide my life or death is still far off. Worrying is useless. Better to look and listen more, get a good understanding of this era, and slowly think of a plan to save my skin."

And so, Heifu cast his anxiety aside and began to observe this realm that the history books called "Tyrannical Qin" with curiosity.

One doesn't know until one looks, and looking gave him a shock. Along the way, the completeness of Qin's institutions and the strict clarity of its laws astonished Heifu! He thought he had walked onto the wrong set—could this really be ancient times?

Take, for example, the "check-token" and "travel pass" that the innkeeper demanded when he came seeking lodging.

The "check-token" was the Qin people's identity card, made from a palm-wide poplar wood plaque. Carved on it in seal script was Heifu's registered identity: "Nan Commandery, Anlu County, Cloud Dream Township, Sunset Lane resident. Name: Heifu. Second son in the family. Status: common ranker. Height: seven chi five cun."

"Common ranker" was Qin's term for ordinary commoners who held no noble rank. Furthermore, the Qin common people lived as neighbors, five households forming a squad and ten households forming a section. In normal times, they had to farm diligently and were not permitted to leave their home area at will. If one needed to travel far, one not only needed a valid reason, but also had to have the village chief (village head) and the police post chief (post head) of one's registered residence write a certificate. This was the "travel pass," equivalent to a Qin person's letter of introduction.

Just like in modern times, in Qin, one could not stay at an inn or rent a room without an identity card and a letter of introduction. An innkeeper who dared take in such a person would be fined, or even lose his livelihood!

That was why the innkeeper questioned Heifu so closely, going into such detail as confirming how many people were in his family and what they all did. He even asked the names of several elderly people in Sunset Lane, Cloud Dream Township, and whether they were in good health, all to verify the authenticity of his identity.

Heifu had come prepared and answered each question. The check-token and travel pass were also in order. Only then did the innkeeper let him off, saying, "So you're a common ranker heading to the county for service. Follow me inside."

"Yes."

Heifu acknowledged the order, and a great weight lifted from his heart. He secretly congratulated himself: "Good, I haven't repeated Shang Yang's mistake."

Heifu had heard this story before he transmigrated. After Duke Xiao of Qin died, the nobles whose interests had been harmed by the new laws banded together, branded Shang Yang a traitor, and put out a nationwide warrant for him. Shang Yang fled to an inn seeking shelter, but was turned away by the innkeeper because he could not produce a check-token and travel pass.

Shang Yang was driven to a dead end by the very system he had created—what tremendous irony. But this was also a good thing. It was unlikely that any fugitives or villains were staying at the inn; everyone here was a law-abiding Qin subject. He could sleep in peace.

The inn was not large, just a two-courtyard compound. Passing through the courtyard, Heifu saw a horse-drawn carriage parked there, probably belonging to some official staying the night.

Afterward, he followed the innkeeper to a large room built against the eastern wall. But before entering, the innkeeper suddenly turned back and asked, "Do you know that private brawling in an inn is a serious crime?"

Heifu hurriedly said, "I know. I will absolutely not cause trouble."

Qin encouraged public warfare but strictly prohibited private brawling. Anyone who raised a hand against another would have their hair and beard shaved off and be reduced to a penal laborer.

"Good that you understand." The innkeeper still made Heifu hand over the weapon he carried before opening the door to the large room with a sour face. A wave of warmth immediately rushed to meet them…

There were already four or five people inside, gathered around an earthen stove, warming themselves by the fire. Seeing the old innkeeper bring another guest, they each squeezed aside a little. One of them, a skinny young man like a monkey, even greeted him warmly: "Little brother, come sit here."

"You all wait a moment. I'll go prepare some hot broth."

The old innkeeper was advanced in years and slow at everything. The inn only provided meals for officials on assignment. As for ordinary commoners, they could just gnaw on the dry rations in their own bosoms. Giving them a free bowl of hot broth was already the height of benevolence.

Heifu found a comfortable position and sat cross-legged. While drying his clothes, he sized up the several people under the same roof. Their attire was much like Heifu's—all coarse brown jackets, all soaking wet. People who still had to travel and toil in this kind of weather all had it hard. Before long, the group began chatting, from the day's weather to the autumn harvest…

Heifu listened carefully, chiming in from time to time. He was a man of few words, but he greatly enjoyed listening to others converse. It allowed him to feel the people and events of this era more vividly, while also absorbing useful information.

As they talked, the topic gradually shifted, turning from daily life to the recent "great affairs of the realm."

"Have you all heard the rumor?"

The skinny, dark young man who had invited Heifu to sit beside him was named "Ji Ying." He suddenly lowered his voice and said to Heifu and the others:

"I heard from someone who came from Guanzhong that last month, an assassin from the State of Yan actually dared to try to assassinate the Great King right in the Xianyang Palace!"

(End of chapter)