Chapter 132: Success or Failure

"According to my master, the villain Jing Ke took out a map and presented it to the King, pointing out the location of Dukang. Who could have guessed that when the map was unrolled, a dagger lay hidden!"

"Ah!"

Though Heifu had long known this story from two years ago, he still put on a very shocked expression, listening to Chen Wujiu boast without blinking, while inwardly thinking he might get to hear some inside details that differed from the historical records.

Then he heard Chen Wujiu say: "By Qin law, when ministers attend court in the hall, they may not carry weapons of even an inch. The armed court gentlemen and guards were all arrayed outside the palace, and could not ascend the hall without an edict. When the incident broke out so suddenly, in the chaos the guards could not arrive in time. The hall was thrown into utter confusion. The ministers, frantic to protect the King, could only try to stop Jing Ke with their bare hands, but Jing Ke was so nimble—how could they stop him?"

"At the time, the King had a sword strapped to his back, but the blade was too long, and in the rush he could not draw it for a moment. He saw Jing Ke closing in again, about to stab the King with the dagger!"

Chen Wujiu paused deliberately here, and only after fully whetting the appetite did he continue: "Just at that moment, my master, Xia Gong Wuju, happened to be standing to the side as the King's attending physician, carrying his medicine bag. Seeing this, he immediately raised his medicine bag and hurled it at Jing Ke, obstructing his movement! Only then was the King able to circle behind a pillar and draw his sword. The ministers on both sides also rushed over, pressing forward to pin down Jing Ke. The King struck Jing Ke with his sword, slashing his left leg, and blood gushed forth like a spring…"

Hearing this, Heifu feigned relief and said, "Fortunate that the King had the protection of Vast Heaven, and fortunate too for Lord Xia's medicine bag, which prevented the villain Jing Ke from succeeding."

"Indeed."

Chen Wujiu stroked his short beard. This was his teacher's proudest achievement, and every time Chen Wujiu recounted it to an outsider, he regarded it as a kind of favor, a sharing. The events of that day were Qin palace secrets known only to those present; Chen Wujiu wouldn't even deign to tell just anyone!

"After this affair, the King assessed merits, richly rewarded the assembled ministers, and bestowed upon my master two hundred yi of gold!"

"Two hundred yi!" This time Heifu's shock was genuine.

In Qin, gold was the superior currency, with two units of weight. The smaller unit was the liang. When Heifu and his men usually captured bandits, their rewards were calculated in liang; getting ten liang at a time was enough to make the bailiff and bailiff's men grin from ear to ear.

The yi was a unit even larger than the liang, one yi equaling twenty-four liang. Usually, when describing a person whose wealth rivaled a kingdom, one would praise them as having "a fortune of a thousand jin," meaning a thousand yi of gold.

Heifu calculated in his head: one liang of gold was five hundred seventy-six cash, so one yi of gold was thirteen thousand eight hundred twenty-four cash.

Two hundred yi of gold… Tsk, over two million seven hundred thousand cash!

Poverty limited Heifu's imagination. He had little concept of prices in Xianyang City, but he knew that with over two million cash, one could basically buy up every shop in the entire Anlu County, then buy all the houses in the entire Yunmeng Township, and still have more than half left over.

This truly was an enormous windfall. With such a reward, Xia Wuju could completely transform from a physician of modest means into one of Qin's great magnates overnight!

No wonder Xia Wuju could concoct the superior golden wound medicine famed throughout Qin—it was all built on a mountain of money…

The King of Qin's meaning in richly rewarding Xia Wuju was also very clear: the King's life was supremely noble and precious, and a timely hurled medicine bag was worth this much money!

Seeing Heifu "shocked" once again, Chen Wujiu said with some smugness: "The money is secondary. What matters most is that when assessing merits, the King made a remark about my master. Platoon Leader Heifu, do you know what the King said?"

"What did he say?" Heifu truly didn't know these details.

"The King said: 'Wuju loves me, and so threw his medicine bag at Jing Ke!'"

Chen Wujiu smacked his lips, as if savoring the profound meaning within these words. This was the King of Qin's affirmation of Xia Wuju's loyalty. After this incident, Xia Wuju rose from a mere attending physician of no great standing to become the Chief Physician of Qin in one leap…

"Now my master is deeply trusted by the King. If he were to submit to the King the battlefield medical care strategy that Platoon Leader Heifu and I have discussed, the chances of it being approved are extremely high!"

By boasting about Xia Wuju's deeds for so long just now, Chen Wujiu meant to prove how much his master was trusted by the King of Qin, that he was one of the few closest to the King's side.

In Heifu's view, however, while it was true that Xia Wuju was trusted by the King of Qin, as for Chen Wujiu, one of his many disciples, how high his standing within the master's school really was—that was another matter.

"If he were truly Xia Wuju's favorite disciple, he would have soared up the ranks long ago and taken a post in the Qin palace. He wouldn't have only managed to reach the rank of Grandee, and still have to come to Wei to serve in the army, working as a minor physician in a thousand-man regiment…"

Heifu did not reveal this thought. He had no choice; the only path available before him was Chen Wujiu. He had merely held something back when offering his strategy, not handing over all the later-age medical knowledge he knew.

Heifu had guessed correctly. Chen Wujiu's standing among the master's many disciples was indeed not high; he couldn't compare at all to the son-in-law whom Xia Wuju regarded as his successor. Even among the secret formulas, he had only been given the one for golden wound medicine; all the rest were kept secret.

That was why Chen Wujiu, just like Heifu, was fervent for fame and achievement. After discussing in detail with Heifu, he began to feel that the idea of battlefield medics might earn him the regard of his master, Xia Wuju.

So Chen Wujiu set to work at once. After spending two days learning battlefield first aid and bandaging techniques from Heifu, he wrote down the whole story on a wooden tablet. He even had Heifu review it, to prove that he had indeed written Heifu's name on it. Qin had no dedicated "medical registry"; medical texts, like divination, circulated among the common people, so it was not overstepping his post for a platoon leader like Heifu to concern himself with treating wounds and rescuing the injured.

However, even though Chen Wujiu patted his chest and guaranteed it repeatedly, Heifu still had some doubts about whether this bamboo tablet could attract Xia Wuju's attention, and whether it could reach the King of Qin's desk.

Chen Wujiu's rank was merely Grandee; he had no privilege of express relay post. And Qin's official postal system did not deliver private letters for individuals. So this letter could only be entrusted to wounded officers and clerks from Xianyang who were returning to Guanzhong, to be delivered slowly.

From Waihuang to Xianyang was over one thousand four hundred li, blocked by mountains and rivers. By the time this letter reached Xia Wuju's hands, it would probably be over a month later.

Attending a sovereign is like attending a tiger, let alone a formidable ruler like Ying Zheng, the King of Qin. Those who could become his trusted confidants were no rash men. Seeing is believing, hearing is empty. If Xia Wuju truly took an interest in the contents of the letter, out of caution, he might even wait until this war ended, summon Chen Wujiu back, and witness it with his own eyes before making any further plans.

Even if everything went smoothly and Xia Wuju truly submitted a memorial to the King of Qin for the ministers to discuss, it was not certain to be adopted.

Battlefield medical care was unlike the treadle pestle; its benefits were not so immediately obvious, and some might even consider it meddlesome.

The lives and deaths of soldiers were not something every sovereign or general cherished. Qin had millions of able-bodied men, all incorporated into the conscription registry system. If one who filled a ditch died, countless commoners from the rear would follow. Even if saved, most would end up crippled. According to Qin's system, such disabled veterans were to be placed in "hidden workshops" to be supported. Why go to the extra trouble of saving more cripples, only to let them waste resources and grain?

Therefore, after seeing off the Guanzhong officer carrying the letter, unlike Chen Wujiu's impatience, Heifu appeared far more indifferent.

"Whether this matter succeeds or not, whether there is a reward or not, is something for several months from now. For now, I must act as if this never happened!"

…

The carriage heading to Xianyang was slow; by contrast, Heifu's new rank arrived rather quickly!

Ever since becoming a platoon leader, Heifu's rank promotion was no longer tied to his personal headcount; only collective merit could raise his rank.

In the Battle of Waihuang, Heifu's platoon achieved seventeen kills, fulfilling the quota for "meeting the assessment," equivalent to one collective merit.

The Military Rank Code stipulated: "Meeting the assessment, a centurion or platoon leader is granted one rank."

After the military judge verified that all the heads were without issue, the rewards and punishments for everyone were written into a document and submitted to Wang Ben's main camp beneath Daliang City, where the law clerk in charge of military merit rewards and punishments there confirmed it once more.

Thus, on the sixth day after the Qin army occupied Waihuang, Heifu's new rank came down.

Upon receiving the wooden board crown that symbolized the rank of "No Further Service," Heifu broke into a smile.

"'No Further Service'—good! I like the name of this rank!"

PS: Third update at 10 PM.

(End of chapter)