Chapter 16: Be Careful

Before leaving the market, Hei Fu found a small alley and changed into his new clothes.

Right, when dressing, one must pay attention: the left collar must overlap the right collar, forming a "y" shape in others' eyes — this is called "right-lapel."

In his first few days after arriving in this era, Hei Fu made a fool of himself more than once; it was his mother, grumbling about her foolish son, who helped him straighten his collar. You see, if you get it reversed and wear it "left-lapel" like a barbarian or a corpse being buried, you'll definitely be subjected to inhumanely cruel mockery.

Once he had changed into a full set of new clothes, not only was his whole body much warmer, but Hei Fu was no longer that country bumpkin in coarse hemp. He had become a properly dressed man of rank, and with his tall, sturdy build — a bit dark, but not bad-looking — he repeatedly drew the gazes of village women strolling the evening market.

But just like that, 350 cash was gone.

Hei Fu stuffed his old clothes into his shoulder bag, did a mental tally, and began to worry again.

"After my service ends, I still plan to bring things back for my mother at home, my eldest brother, my third brother, and my married sister (the words "already married" are bolded and underlined — readers who've followed since Spring and Autumn, don't bother puzzling over it). All told, of these eleven-hundred-odd cash in reward money, I'll be lucky if half is left by then."

No matter how much money you have, it's never enough to spend — Hei Fu was deeply troubled.

Although this trip to the county seat had brought the stroke of luck that earned him the rank of Gongshi, Hei Fu's life still hadn't undergone any fundamental change.

"Once I get back, I need to think of a way to earn money," Hei Fu thought to himself.

But from his observations over the past few days, he had discovered that in Qin, trying to earn money within the bounds the law allowed? Heh, easier said than done!

Back in the day, Shang Yang, precisely to force the Qin people to "let profit flow from a single channel," had blocked off every path except farming and warfare. Merchants were classified under a special "market registry" for management, held low status, and no matter how rich they were, they were forbidden to wear fine clothes when going out.

As a result, people of different registries in Qin were sharply distinct from one another, assigned to different trades under the officials' arrangements — just like a cat catching mice, a rooster crowing at dawn, or a dog guarding the house, each performing its own duty.

Hei Fu and the others belonged to the "Shiwu registry," whose proper duties were farming and fighting. Recklessly scheming to earn money — that was being restless and out of line!

As he was thinking this over, they arrived at the South Gate training ground.

……

A training ground is a field for drilling troops. Anlu County's training ground was situated on an open area inside the South Gate, about the size of a football pitch, capable of holding nearly a thousand people in assembly!

Ji Ying had been here before. He pointed and explained that the left side of the training ground was where the county soldiers were stationed — the standing troops every Qin county had. It was said that years ago, when the "stepfather" of King Zheng of Qin, the hugely-endowed Marquis of Changxin Lao Ai, rebelled, he forged edicts to incite the county soldiers of every county within the passes.

The right side of the training ground was the conscripts' quarters, with some huts. But with dusk falling, Hei Fu couldn't make out the specifics; they were probably not very comfortable to live in.

Outside the training ground was a wooden palisade and a guard post. Hei Fu and Ji Ying walked over and identified themselves. The two county soldiers on gate duty eyed them with faces full of suspicion, holding the bamboo slip written by the county prison clerk, and for a long time couldn't decide whether to let them in.

In the end, the two decided to have one man watch them while the other went in to report to the two centurions here.

"I've heard that Anlu County can levy a thousand men. In wartime, the County Right Commandant is the commander of a thousand, and the Left Commandant is a commander of five hundred," Ji Ying said to Hei Fu in the gap while they waited.

Hei Fu nodded. He had a rough understanding of the Qin army's organization. Generally speaking, the peacetime structure was divided into six levels: five men made a squad, with one squad leader; two squads made a section, with one section leader; five sections made a platoon, with one platoon leader; two platoons made a hundred, with one centurion; five hundred men had one commander of five hundred; a thousand men had one commander of a thousand. In wartime, there were even larger-scale "battalion formations," with several thousand men organized into a battalion, led by a colonel or general.

In peacetime, Anlu County naturally couldn't levy that many people, so there were only two centurions — also called "hundred-man chiefs" — stationed here, responsible for managing one hundred county soldiers, as well as the hundred-odd conscripts summoned each month for corvée labor and training.

At this point, Ji Ying suddenly said, "Brother Hei Fu, you're now a Gongshi, you have martial skills, and you've made a name for yourself in the county seat. This time, you might be able to become a squad leader or section leader!"

If he hadn't brought it up, it would have been fine, but hearing this, Hei Fu's heart couldn't help but stir.

"Squad leader and section leader may be minor, and temporary at that, but they're still the start of a military officer's career, good for my record later on. I might just give it a try."

Just as he was speaking, from inside the training ground's wooden gate suddenly came the crisp sound of marching footsteps. Hei Fu fixed his gaze and saw a military officer leading a group of soldiers, striding over with formidable momentum.

When the officer reached them, they saw he wore a long ru coat, with armor over it, a long officer's cap on his head, leg wraps bound around his shins, and shallow shoes on his feet. One hand rested on his sword, and his face was covered in a full beard, stern and unsmiling.

Hei Fu and Ji Ying tactfully saluted him, but the officer merely sized them up and asked flatly, "Are you two the conscripts reporting for service? Shiwu Hei Fu and Ji Ying?"

Hei Fu responded, "That is us."

Ji Ying then reminded the officer, "Reporting to the superior officer, Hei Fu has been promoted to Gongshi..."

The officer glared. "I don't care whether you're Shiwu or Gongshi — you're all conscripts! The summons clearly stated: the first day of the tenth month, assemble before noon. Why are you late!"

Noon was one of the twelve double-hours in Qin, equivalent to 11 a. m. to 1 p. m. in later times. At that hour, Hei Fu had still been at the county prison, locked in a verbal sparring match — how could he possibly have made it...

So Hei Fu explained, "We were assisting the county prison in hearing a case, which delayed us for over half a day. We have a bamboo document written by the prison clerk as proof."

The officer refused to listen to their explanation, nor did he glance at the bamboo document the county soldier beside him handed over. Keeping a stony face, he said, "Still daring to argue? Men, seize these two!"

"Yes!" After a chorus of acknowledgments, the county soldiers immediately rubbed their fists, and like wolves and tigers, pounced forward, first pinning Ji Ying to the ground!

"We've been wronged!" Ji Ying cried out again, but it was no use.

Then, the remaining five or six men closed in to seize Hei Fu. Hei Fu did not resist. They twisted his arms behind his back and pressed him down before the centurion. His face pressed against the ice-cold ground, and with every breath, dust stung his nose. A powerful surge of humiliation welled up from his heart!

At this moment, Hei Fu was utterly baffled.

He knew that conscript summons were the responsibility of the County Commandant's office. The county prison had already communicated with them and written Hei Fu a certificate explaining the whole story, granting them permission to come tomorrow morning instead. But out of caution, Hei Fu had come today.

Who would have thought that this centurion before him would be so utterly unreasonable, not even waiting for Hei Fu and Ji Ying to explain before having them seized on the spot!

This was truly outrageous. Was there no law or discipline left?

He had clearly never met this man before — there was no grudge between them!

Wait!

What was it that prison clerk Yue had said to him before leaving?

"Once you get to the conscripts' side, be careful!"

Hei Fu suddenly jolted to realization. Could it be that the lawsuit that had just concluded and his current predicament were somehow connected?

Just then, the centurion folded his arms across his chest, stood before Hei Fu, and said contemptuously, "Word outside says that the conscript Hei Fu from Yunmeng Township has extraordinary martial skill, can fight three bandits at once, seize blades barehanded, and captured a criminal to earn his rank. But looking at you now, you're just a cowardly nobody. Let me ask you: aren't you supposed to be skilled in martial arts? Why didn't you seize a weapon and resist?"

Hei Fu strained to lift his head, his gaze passing over the officer's shoe tips and long ru coat, his eyes fixed steadily on the face of this full-bearded centurion, firmly memorizing his features. Then, instead of anger, he laughed.

"If I had resisted, wouldn't that have been exactly what you, superior officer, were hoping for?"

"Insolence!" The centurion's expression changed, and he called to the men, "Men! Punish these two under the crime of missing the deadline!"

(End of chapter)