Chapter 147: The Seething Cauldron

"Unify the cart tracks, unify the writing, unify the conduct..."

What Heifu said to Chen Ping that day left a deep impression on him.

Though a great figure in history, Chen Ping at this time was still a small-town youth whose footprints had never gone beyond a hundred li of Huyou Village. In his heart, besides himself, there was still family and a faint sense of state distinction, but a worldview of all under heaven had yet to form.

So Heifu's remarks about "unifying all under heaven, and thus unifying its culture" dealt Chen Ping a certain shock. Fortunately, he was clever after all and quickly digested this insight, while at the same time growing even more puzzled about Heifu as a person.

"Is this the breadth of knowledge a mere Qin army platoon leader ought to have?"

Not only that, Chen Ping had also observed some other unusual things about Heifu.

The few Henei commandery soldiers Zhongming had brought along had once proudly shown Chen Ping the clothes on their backs, saying they were newly made summer garments.

When the Qin soldiers were called up for service, the weather was cold, so when everyone set out on the road, they basically only brought two winter coats. Now several months had passed, the weather grew hotter by the day, and the heavy winter clothes could no longer be worn. The money in their hands was also mostly spent, not enough to buy cloth, and many Qin soldiers instantly became like ants on a hot pan, only a step away from cutting their long coats into short ones.

It was at this moment that Heifu came to everyone's rescue. He took out the cloth and silk he had seized at Waihuang, which Yang Xiong had rewarded him with, and distributed it to everyone, having the village tailor make summer clothes for the troops.

Chen Ping mused thoughtfully, "Although the Qin army's strict distinction by rank prevents him from eating the same food as the rank-and-file soldiers, in this way, he has managed to share the same clothes with them."

This was the very method Wu Qi had once used to win people's hearts, yet now it was being employed by a mere platoon leader. Thus, the soldiers in the camp were all deeply grateful to Heifu and willingly obeyed the extra orders and prohibitions he had set down beyond military law.

For instance, not being allowed to drink unboiled water...

The very day Chen Ping first arrived at the Qin camp, he was startled by this lifestyle habit. That day, when he was thirsty after finishing his work, he directly picked up a ladle, intending to scoop water from the water vat to drink. He was promptly scolded by Bu Cheng, who managed the daily affairs. Bu Cheng snatched the ladle from his hand and handed Chen Ping a bowl of warm boiled water just poured from the cauldron.

"The Patrol Chief said, during encampment, anyone in the camp who drinks unboiled water shall be flogged!"

Chen Ping thought for a long time but could not figure out why. Someone of his poor background would normally drink casually anytime—river water, spring water, well water, even rainwater. He would just bend down, open his mouth, and quench his thirst. Only in the depths of winter, when everything was frozen, would he boil water at home to drink.

At first, he interpreted this as a custom of the Qin state.

However, after making some oblique inquiries, he learned that this was in fact not a Qin custom at all, but rather one of Heifu's "eccentricities."

"The Patrol Chief gave a strict order. Though we do not know the reason, we can only obey it carefully."

The Qin soldiers were simple and honest, not as clever and slick as the people of Han and Wei. They rarely asked "why" and simply listened when an order was given—a character shaped by years of domestication under laws and decrees.

Chen Ping was different. He wanted to find the reason behind everything. So after gradually becoming familiar, he finally could not resist asking Heifu this question.

Beside the fire pit, Heifu watched the cauldron they had found in the house, used for boiling water, as the clear water inside gradually came to a boil. He answered flatly, "You are a local and are used to drinking the local river and well water, so naturally nothing happens to you. But the Qin soldiers all come from a thousand li away. The water and soil of the two places are vastly different. Drinking too much unboiled water will inevitably cause stomach discomfort and illness. Boiling the water before drinking is much better. At the turn of spring and summer, when diseases are prone to breed, no one in the camp has fallen ill. Perhaps that is the benefit of drinking boiled water."

Heifu's "unaccustomed to the water and soil, therefore drink boiled water" theory was novel. Chen Ping thought it over and found it actually made some sense.

From ancient times to the present, there had indeed been many instances of large armies mobilizing, only to be suddenly struck by epidemic disease while encamped in a foreign land, leading to collapse. The small camp before his eyes was easy enough to manage, but if tens of thousands or over a hundred thousand troops gathered together, the water source would easily be polluted—either by enemy forces dumping in animal carcasses, or by the inadvertent inflow of feces from their own men and horses. Drinking that kind of untreated water would be fatal...

"His courage can overawe others, his benevolence can care for the soldiers, his wisdom is sufficient for prudence. This Patrol Chief seems like a scion of a family that has produced generals and officials for generations, not at all like a commoner without a clan name who came from the Qin state's Southern Commandery..."

While Chen Ping was sizing up Heifu's character, the work at hand could not slacken either. One day in mid-April, Heifu suddenly placed three sets of bamboo slips, delivered from Daliang and Yangwu, before him simultaneously.

"Translate all three of these bamboo slips into Wei script and copy them onto wooden boards."

Chen Ping was slightly startled. Normally, they would not send so many slips needing public announcement to the entire village at once. He hurriedly took them and looked. The first one surprised him a little.

"A wanted order? Wanted... Zhou Shi?"

"You know Zhou Shi?"

Heifu detected the peculiar note in Chen Ping's voice, turned back, and pressed the question.

Chen Ping hurriedly said, "I have only heard his name, never met the man."

Heifu, however, grew interested. "The five-hundred-man commander over at Yangwu says this man has caused no small trouble for the Yangwu garrison. Tell me, then, what sort of person this Zhou Shi is."

Chen Ping had no choice but to answer truthfully. "Zhou Shi is a man of Huangchi County to the west. For generations, his family served as Wei's elite armored soldiers..."

The Wei armored soldiers were a professional force created by Wu Qi, the finest and fiercest representatives of heavy infantry in the Warring States era. Over a hundred years ago, west of the Yellow River, they had set a record of one man against ten, routing the Qin army. It was only after that that Duke Xiao of Qin, ashamed of Qin's weakness, supported Shang Yang's reforms.

As professional soldiers recruited by the state with grants of land and homesteads, the number of armored soldiers could not be too large. Even at the peak of King Hui of Wei's reign, there were only fifty thousand. Afterward, Wei fell under the pincer attacks of Qi and Qin, its national strength waning day by day. The armored soldiers also gradually withered, their numbers dwindling. At the battles of Yique and Huayang, they were nearly annihilated. Though a portion was later restored, they could only maintain a force of a few thousand.

As time passed, the nature of the armored soldiers also changed. They went from being conscripts constantly replenished with fresh blood to a hereditary force of soldiers serving generation after generation. Because Wei generally did not reclaim the land and homesteads granted to armored soldiers, and also granted them tax exemptions, so many families could not be supported for nothing. Thus, when the previous generation of armored soldiers all died in battle, Wei simply required the able-bodied sons of each family to inherit their father's profession and continue serving as armored soldiers, so the state would not have to issue another grant of land and homestead...

Zhou Shi was born into a family that had been armored soldiers for three generations.

"Zhou Shi, a man of Huangchi, served as an armored soldier for generations. His grandfather once followed Lord Xinling to rescue Zhao and died at Handan. His father took part in the last joint attack on Qin by the five states and died in the ranks. Zhou Shi inherited his grandfather's and father's profession. Twelve years ago, when the Qin army attacked Wei, he also fought against Qin. After the war, he was promoted to a military clerk and even came to Huyou Village to garrison for a period. That is how I know his name..."

When the Qin army besieged Daliang, Zhou Shi was serving as a military clerk in Yangwu County. The magistrate of Yangwu, persuaded by Zhang Bo, surrendered to Qin. Zhou Shi, leading a few dozen men, tried to surround the county office to stop this. He was driven back by the magistrate's retainers and fled the county seat with a remnant of over ten men, vanishing without a trace.

Chen Ping said that in Wei, aside from those noble scions and royal grandsons, the ones most loyal to Wei were the armored soldier families who had "received Wei's grace for generations." Zhou Shi, moreover, harbored a blood feud against Qin spanning two generations and was extremely hostile toward the Qin people.

"No wonder, then."

After hearing Zhou Shi's story, Heifu looked at the words on the bamboo slip and shook his head repeatedly.

The five-hundred-man commander Zhang at Yangwu had frantically notified Heifu that the Wei man Zhou Shi, in the marsh and forest region of Yangwu County, had gathered a group of Wei people discontent with Qin rule, numbering over a hundred. Days before, they had attacked a grain convoy heading from Yangwu to Daliang. Although ultimately driven back, they still burned several hundred dan of fodder and grain...

"It seems not all Wei people are willing to submit. Resistance still exists."

Heifu knew that although the Qin army nominally occupied Yangwu, its governing power was concentrated only in the villages and towns, unable to reach the vast open countryside and rural areas. As a local, Zhou Shi could easily lead those hundred-odd men to roam and hide everywhere, while the Qin army would find it hard to catch them.

Therefore, the wanted order from five-hundred-man commander Zhang was probably of little use. Heifu just had to guard carefully himself and make sure Huyou did not also suffer an attack. That would be good enough.

"Translate this bamboo slip into Wei script and submit it for the Sefu and the Thrice Venerable to review."

Chen Ping assented. After finishing copying and translating, drying the ink, and showing it to Heifu, he picked up the second wooden tablet.

It was also a wanted order, this one issued by Waihuang County, for the former Waihuang magistrate Zhang Er, his wife, and his son...

"After the Waihuang magistrate fled Waihuang, some of his retainers in the Wei lands still refused to give up. They have gathered around Waihuang, continuing to resist under Zhang Er's banner."

Heifu laughed. "Zhang Er is a great knight-errant of eastern Wei, his reputation immense. Thus, whoever captures Zhang Er will be rewarded with a hundred gold pieces; whoever captures his wife or son, ten gold pieces. It's just that, if I were Zhang Er, I would flee east to the lands of Qi and Chu, not come to Yangwu to throw my life away."

Chen Ping nodded in assent, but inwardly he thought, "The Patrol Chief is an outsider, so he does not know. The Sefu of this village, Zhang Bo, has had some dealings with the Waihuang magistrate Zhang Er over these past few years. The two even tried to claim kinship..."

But Chen Ping still kept a card hidden and did not speak the words in his heart. After all, that was already a thing of the past.

After he finished copying and translating this one, he looked at the third wooden tablet. This tablet had been sent from the main camp outside Daliang and bore the general's seal of Wang Ben.

This was not a wanted order, but rather...

"Requisitioning grain?"

Chen Ping's eyes widened as he looked at that striking number and blurted out, "Two thousand dan?!"

"Correct, two thousand dan."

Heifu sighed. "I didn't expect it either. Daliang actually wants Huyou Village to produce this much grain."

Chen Ping's expression had already shifted subtly. He set down his brush and looked at Heifu. "Patrolman, if we truly hand over this much grain, the people of this township will go hungry until the summer harvest..."

Heifu did not answer, but in his heart he understood perfectly.

This grain requisition order would shatter the illusion of Qin-Wei amity and military-civilian harmony in Huyou Township. This place would become a great cauldron seething with the people's boiling resentment!

Heifu could not help grumbling inwardly, "Young General Wang, this is no grain requisition order — it's a death warrant! You clearly mean to throw us, the local garrison, into a golden cauldron of scalding water to be cooked alive!"

(End of chapter)