Chapter 215: Governor Teng

"The Commandery Governor summoned me to his residence?"

Hearing that the Governor of South Commandery had summoned him, Heifu was somewhat caught off guard.

The Commandery Governor was the chief official of a commandery, a high-ranking frontier magnate with a rank of two thousand dan. Heifu, on the other hand, was the Left Clerk of the Military Section, directly subordinate to the Commandery Commandant. Although the Governor had the authority to inquire into military affairs, he would usually discuss them directly with the Commandant, or at most consult the Head Clerk of the Military Section, and would never have direct dealings with a subordinate clerk below that level. Yet today, he had suddenly sent an assistant clerk to summon him — what could be the reason?

Though it was out of the ordinary, Heifu dared not disobey the Governor's command. He hurriedly went to request leave from Li You — for an irregular, leapfrogging summons like this, it was still best to let his superior know.

Li You, for his part, did not give it much thought and simply told Heifu to go quickly. And so Heifu followed the two subordinate clerks from the Governor's residence, riding out of Ying County toward the Governor's seat at Jiangling.

Along the way, he tried to probe indirectly: what could the Governor be summoning him for?

"We do not know the details either. Left Clerk of the Military Section, you will know once you arrive."

The two subordinate clerks were tight-lipped and refused to reveal a single word; it was clear that the Governor's residence kept its subordinates under strict discipline.

Heifu could only guess to himself: "Summoning me at this point in time — could it be related to the water-powered trip hammer?"

It was not impossible. Over the past several days, the Jishan Copper Office had created a device that could crush ore by itself without needing human or animal labor, and it had become big news in the commandery seat. Many people had gone to watch; the streamside where the water-powered trip hammer was installed was so packed with spectators they formed a wall. Whenever the hammers truly began to move on their own, driven by the waterwheel, a burst of startled cries would invariably ring out.

In the end, the Commandery Works Office, to preserve secrecy, had no choice but to seal off the Jishan Copper Office. Aside from personnel from the Works Section, not even officials were permitted to enter and snoop!

"If the Governor wanted to learn about the water-powered trip hammer, he could just go straight to the Works Section people. Why seek me out?"

Heifu muttered to himself. Regarding the water-powered trip hammer, he had kept himself out of the limelight and pushed most of the credit onto Yuan.

"Or could it be related to the proposal I had the Chief Physician Xia Wuju submit to the King of Qin?"

By his reckoning, two months had already passed since Xia Wuju submitted the memorial to the King of Qin. According to Li You, after the King of Qin gave his approval, the policy had already begun to be rolled out intensively in Xianyang and the Guanzhong region. Led by the Chief Physician, healers like Chen Wujiu who had learned the techniques of wound-dressing and bandaging were selecting nimble-handed soldiers with a rough knowledge of medicine from the army. Each would train ten men, and they would become the first batch of "medic soldiers" in the State of Qin.

Following Guanzhong, the other commanderies and counties would also implement the policy in succession — it should be South Commandery's turn by now, shouldn't it? If that were truly the case, accompanying this order should also be Heifu's rank of Gong Dafu…

But to discuss this matter without calling upon the Commandery Commandant as well, and to summon only Heifu alone — was that really appropriate?

Thinking along these lines, Heifu could not help but ponder the rumors he had heard about this Governor of South Commandery, "Teng"…

Teng's full name was Ye Teng. He was not a man of Qin, but of Han. His hometown, Ye County, belonged to the "Nanyang Commandery" of Han, the region north of Fangcheng and south of the Ying River. His family had served Han for generations, and over a decade ago, Ye Teng himself had become the Acting Governor of Nanyang Commandery in Han.

In the sixteenth year of King Zheng of Qin's reign, the Qin army attacked Han and reached Luyang. Unlike Feng Ting, the Governor of Shangdang who "would rather die than become a subject of Qin" thirty years earlier, Ye Teng made a choice that shocked everyone: he surrendered the entire Han Nanyang Commandery to Qin!

This move directly caused the already extremely weakened Han to lose half its territory, and overnight it lost the ability to resist Qin.

After Ye Teng surrendered to Qin, he traveled in person to Xianyang to have an audience with King Zheng of Qin. The King did not strip him of his position because he was a surrendered minister; instead, he allowed him to continue serving as the Acting Governor of Qin's Nanyang Commandery and to lead troops in the campaign against Han!

This move drew considerable criticism at court — after all, heavily employing a surrendered minister to attack his former homeland was something unheard of in Qin's history.

Yet the King of Qin overrode all objections and insisted on this appointment.

Ye Teng did not disappoint the King of Qin. In the seventeenth year of King Zheng of Qin's reign, the Qin army breached Xinzheng, King An of Han surrendered, and the state altars of Han, which had been passed down for twenty-two generations, were destroyed, making it the first of the six states to be extinguished by Qin.

Ye Teng achieved the great merit of destroying a state and razing its cities, earning the rank of You Shu Zhang. In the nineteenth year of King Zheng's reign, he was promoted from the original "Acting Governor" of Nanyang Commandery to Governor of South Commandery, guarding Qin's southern frontier…

Although the two subordinate clerks refused to tell Heifu why the Governor wanted to summon him, in their casual chat with Heifu, they began to recount the Governor's past governance of South Commandery.

"Those years, the Left Clerk of the Military Section was still in Anlu and had not yet come of age? No wonder you do not know."

The junior clerk riding a black horse on the left said: "In those years, public order in South Commandery was extremely poor. Above, the great old Chu clans ran amok and flouted the law, keeping over a hundred private retainers; the local officials all feared and avoided them, none daring to oppose them. Below, bandits from the Cloud Dream Marsh ran rampant, and murders on the roads increased day by day. Travelers had to carry strung bows and wear swords before they dared walk the highways — such was the degree of chaos."

"In the King's nineteenth year, Governor Ye first arrived at Jiangling. The moment he alighted from his carriage, he immediately summoned his subordinate officials. Any who were absent and failed to appear were all punished and dismissed, and he promoted a batch of young, capable clerks from the academy."

"Immediately after, the Governor proclaimed that of a king's governance, nothing is more urgent than dealing with bandits and thieves. He ordered the entire South Commandery to be on alert; commandery troops and county troops all deployed to arrest lawless bandits. Within a few months, the bandits captured and killed numbered over a thousand! More than four hundred of them were beheaded on a single day at the Jiangling market crossroads; blood flowed for several li, and the entire commandery was shaken!"

"The Governor truly uses thunderous methods."

Heifu praised, forming an impression of Ye Teng as someone "swift and decisive."

"After dealing with the bandits, it was the turn of the local magnates."

The junior clerk riding a dappled mare on the right also spoke: "At the time, quite a few bandits were actually the retainers of the old Chu clans in the various commanderies and counties. Once pursued, these people would hide behind the high walls of the magnates, and the local petty clerks dared not pursue them. Furthermore, the clans in each county were also guilty of misdeeds like illegally minting coins and manipulating the selection of officials."

"At the time, Governor Ye said that these clans were like malignant tumors growing on the body of South Commandery, and they had to be excised with a red-hot, swift blade."

"So in the King's twentieth year, taking the opportunity of the spring inspection tour, the Governor traveled throughout the commandery's dozen-plus counties. Every time he reached a county, he would personally review case files and listen to the common people's lawsuits. Whenever there was a grievance, he would order the County Magistrate and County Deputy to handle it on the spot. At the same time, he secretly dispatched troops to accompany him, rooting out lawless magnates along the way. Over two months, he arrested over a dozen cunning and powerful families in the commandery, exhaustively investigated their crimes, and passed judgment according to law. The major ones were exterminated by clan execution, the minor ones put to death. Thereupon, the commandery was terrified; all held their breath at the Governor's whim, and none dared cause trouble again."

After the two great scourges of bandits and great clans were eliminated, Ye Teng then set about rectifying the conduct of officials and regulating the customs of South Commandery. In the fourth month of the twentieth year of King Zheng of Qin's reign, he issued two official documents.

One was "The Way of Being an Official," which every petty clerk in South Commandery had to copy and recite. It delineated the difference between a "good official" and a "bad official"; the good were promoted, and the bad were severely punished without leniency. This served as the guiding principle of governance, ordered to be implemented by all eighteen counties of the commandery.

The second was called "The Pronouncement," which mainly urged South Commandery to strengthen moral edification, eliminate the old customs of Chu, destroy illicit shrines not recognized by the authorities, and bring to justice those folk sorcerers who deceived the people. With these two measures applied simultaneously, after several years, South Commandery was brought to great order…

What followed was the scene Heifu had witnessed when he first arrived in this era: in South Commandery, Qin law was strictly enforced; bandits began to go into hiding; the great clans dared not stir recklessly; and the host of officials dared not engage in favoritism or corruption.

"Though Qin law is very comprehensive, those who enforce it are, after all, people. The difference in enforcement between a good official and a bad official is vast. Moreover, frontier commanderies differ from interior commanderies, and the difficulty of governance is doubled. Without Governor Teng, South Commandery might still be a rotten land overrun by bandits and dominated by local magnates."

Through this casual chat with the two junior clerks, Heifu gained a clear understanding of what kind of man Governor Teng was.

That he chose to surrender when the great Qin army pressed the border showed he recognized the realities of the situation. That as a surrendered minister he could gain the trust of King Zheng of Qin, who ordered him to lead troops to destroy the State of Han, further showed he indeed possessed talents that caught the King's eye. After arriving in South Commandery, his image became even more distinct: when crushing the powerful, he showed not the slightest mercy, his methods swift and decisive.

After eliminating the bandits and magnates, he was also able to earnestly instruct the commandery officials and common people through "The Way of Being an Official" and "The Pronouncement," revealing a gentler side.

"His conduct is both firm and gentle; he is not merely a harsh official, but also a model official… He is not a man easy to deal with."

Thinking thus, they had already arrived at Jiangling City.

It was somewhat embarrassing to admit, but after Heifu came to the commandery, due to his busy official duties, he had only come here once at the invitation of a group of colleagues to gather with them. That day happened to be a market holiday, so he did not see a particularly bustling scene.

Today, however, was different. As far as the eye could see, there were people, people, people!

Unlike the militarized atmosphere of Ying County, the Commandery Commandant's seat, Jiangling displayed a prosperity rooted in daily life. After entering the city gate, a broad, magnificent main avenue came into view, wide enough for five or four carriages to travel abreast. Pedestrians walked on either side, while chariots and riders sped down the center, which had been pressed into several wheel ruts, the distance between any two ruts being the standard six chi.

The roadside ditches were lined with stone, allowing domestic wastewater to flow toward the Cloud Dream Marsh. Beyond the ditches, buildings crowded close, with wards and neighborhoods of all sizes stacked layer upon layer, stretching out of sight. Many eating establishments flew their banners high, with people constantly coming and going. Beneath the bridges, the city's several waterways were also full of boats.

The streets were bustling with activity; from time to time, chariots and riders passed by their side. The chariots were mostly enclosed carriages, lavishly adorned. Among the passing pedestrians, there were both commoners in coarse brown clothes and nobles in splendid attire.

"In Chu's Ying capital, carriage hubs strike together, people's shoulders rub, and market roads jostle and collide — it is said that clothes fresh in the morning are worn out by evening…"

Heifu recalled this praise for Jiangling, which meant that the people in this metropolis were so numerous that new clothes worn into the city in the morning would be torn by the jostling by evening… It truly lived up to its reputation, even more prosperous than Wan City, which Heifu had once visited.

Heifu's clothes were not quite torn, but it still took them two ke of time to traverse this street and arrive outside the gates of the Governor's residence.

"Left Clerk of the Military Section, please wait a moment. I will go in and inform the Governor at once."

Heifu was invited by the junior clerk to the entrance of the Governor's residence and asked to sit for a while at the waiting area where those queuing to enter sat. Heifu looked around and saw that the Governor's residence was a sprawling compound with deep courtyards, lofty buildings, and carved walls, in no way inferior to the Commandery Commandant's residence. And the crowd of officials waiting outside was even larger.

They were all waiting to go into the various sections within the Governor's residence to handle official business. Although the queue was very long, none of the people showed expressions of anxiety; they either chatted in low voices or flipped through bamboo-slip documents for a final check. When their turn came, they would naturally be able to enter.

At that moment, an official in black robes and official headdress happened to emerge from within the residence. Heifu thought he looked familiar; upon closer inspection, his eyes lit up. He hurriedly rose and went over, and before the man could board his carriage and leave, Heifu cupped his hands in salute and called out: "Lord Xi!"

The official turned his head — he wore a bound cap and deep robes, with two arrow-shaped thick whiskers above his lip; it was none other than Xi, whom Hei Fu had not seen for a long time!

PS: Sorry for the late update — something came up and I had to go out. The second chapter will be up at 10 p. m. Starting tomorrow, updates will be fixed at 7 a. m. and 4 p. m.

(End of chapter)