Chapter 218: The Man Who Holds the Axe

Heifu left the small hall where he'd been sitting on pins and needles, meek and obedient. Once outside, breathing the open air, he finally felt he'd escaped a perilous spot.

"That Commandery Governor Teng really is a crafty old fox…"

For over a year now, Heifu's official career had sailed along smoothly. Whether it was when he served as a patrol officer at Huyou in Wei, winning over the Zhang clan and connecting with Chen Ping, or during the campaign against Chu, where he smoothly caught Li You's eye, became his personal guard centurion, and then made a name for himself at Tongyang — he not only gained a patron but also earned the gratitude of several hundred Southern Commandery soldiers. It could be called a win in both fame and fortune.

All of this had been steered by Heifu himself, and his relationship with Li You was no different — it wasn't charity received. Heifu had first offered a peach, and only then did the other party repay him with a plum. Though he was a trusted aide, Heifu still had his own confidence and dignity.

Until today, when he finally capsized in the Commandery Governor's manor.

Everything was clear now. Ye Teng had put on such a grand show merely to intimidate Heifu. First, a slap to knock Heifu to the ground, then he helped him up, put on a smile, and said with kind words, "I struck you for your own good…"

The other man was a grand official of two thousand dan. What could Heifu do? He could only voice his gratitude repeatedly, yet in his heart, he felt a stifling sense of having been ambushed.

"Every figure who can climb to two thousand dan is shrewd to the bone. I must act more cautiously from now on — I can't leave openings for people to see through at a glance, the way I used to."

He also realized that compared to these towering figures who had scrapped in the political arena for decades, deep-rooted and thick-leaved, he himself was still just a spring sapling. A thread of crisis stirred in him.

When Heifu first entered the commandery seat, he had thought of making himself a "useful man," full of drive. But now it seemed that appearing too useful, too conspicuous, was no good thing either. See — he was just a young catalpa sapling beginning to grow, and already Ye Teng, that early-rising woodcutter, was waiting off to the side, sharpening his blade with a rasping sound…

In these times, neither useful catalpa wood nor useless thorny scrub like the shrine oak could be called safe.

Only when you yourself hold the axe and halberd that wield the power over life and death can you enjoy a single night of peaceful sleep.

As he left the Commandery Governor's manor, Heifu heard again that faint, intermittent, unpracticed zither melody. At that critical moment just now, he had to thank this zither music for inadvertently saving him — just like the thunderclap and lightning that saved Liu Bei.

"Who is playing the zither?"

Heifu looked toward the Commandery Governor's subordinate clerk beside him.

"It should be the Commandery Governor's daughter."

The clerk smiled. "The Commandery Governor's daughter has not yet come of age. Every day she must practice zither and se from a governess. We've all grown accustomed to it."

"She plays beautifully."

It was clearly an unpracticed zither tune, yet Heifu offered this praise for no apparent reason. Then he looked back once more at that small hall and silently made a resolution.

"I can't accept this. When will I be able to become the woodcutter who holds the axe in his hand?"

…

At the same time, inside Ye Teng's study, the curtain to the inner chamber was lifted. A middle-aged scholar dressed in a shenyi robe walked out and saluted Ye Teng.

"Just now, the Commandery Governor quite frightened that young Left Troop Clerk."

Ye Teng laughed. "A young man — what harm is there in frightening him a little? If he can't withstand a scare, how would we ever know if he's true catalpa timber?"

This middle-aged man was Commandery Governor Teng's Chief Clerk. As a high official of two thousand dan, Ye Teng was entitled to recruit private staff and advisors, and the Chief Clerk was effectively his chief of staff. This Chief Clerk, who hailed from Han, had followed Ye Teng for many years. As a trusted confidant, it was his duty to check for oversights and fill gaps for his lord.

So the Chief Clerk added, "But what that young man said just now cannot be entirely believed. By your order, I investigated Heifu's family registration going back three generations. A household of commoner Qianshou, it was only in his generation that they became slightly literate. With no family learning passed down from afar and no famous teacher to guide him up close, how is it that within a few years he has made astonishing achievements in three fields — crafts, agriculture, and medicine? There is still something suspicious here. My lord must not overlook this."

Ye Teng, however, waved his hand dismissively. "Enough is enough. Since he has explained the matter through, why pursue it to the very end? Even if his words are not entirely true, so what?"

The Chief Clerk looked slightly surprised. Hadn't the Commandery Governor said he wanted to hear Heifu speak the truth?

"What I wanted to hear was only the truth I was willing to hear — only the truth that can pass muster when reported to His Majesty."

Seeing the Chief Clerk somewhat baffled, Ye Teng asked him in return, "Zheng Guo was a spy sent by Han into Qin. At first, his mouth was full of lies. Did Zheng Guo die?"

"Han Fei, before the King of Qin, did not speak a single false word. Is Han Fei still alive?"

There was another thing Ye Teng did not say: He himself, in Han, had deceived his sovereign and concealed the truth — a treasonous, disloyal minister who surrendered. Why, then, had he today become a high frontier official of Qin?

Han had three outstanding men. In the end, one died and two survived. Was the lesson in that not enough?

"A man of wisdom and strategy must be far-sighted and perceptive; without perceptiveness, he cannot illuminate hidden matters." This was the parting advice Han Fei had given Ye Teng back then.

But after that line, there was a second half.

"A man capable of law must be strong-willed and unbendingly upright; without unbending uprightness, he cannot correct treachery!"

Yet Ye Teng took only the first line, and not the second.

He could, in secret, perceive the finest details. He could, before His Majesty and before others, display strength and capability in law. But he had no desire to be a man of unbending uprightness who corrected treachery.

Today, he merely wanted to give that young man a rap on the knuckles.

Ye Teng smiled. "As the saying goes, 'Han's Wanju iron spears are as deadly as wasp and scorpion stings.' But without forging and hammering, how can they be fit for use?"

"So the Commandery Governor intends to employ this young man?" The Chief Clerk finally understood Ye Teng's true intent and could not help but sweat at his own slowness.

"Indeed."

Ye Teng paced the room. "His Majesty has resolved to attack Chu, appointing old General Wang Jian as commander. The day the war begins will be after autumn!"

"His Majesty sent Li You to Southern Commandery as Commandery Commandant — his intention is quite clear. That being so, I, as Commandery Governor, will have no chance to lead troops on campaign."

Ye Teng felt a touch of regret. Over these years stationed in Southern Commandery, watching the Wang father and son smash three states in succession, how could his eyes not burn with envy?

But the astute Ye Teng had also discerned, from the conscription and grain-requisition orders the King of Qin sent to Southern Commandery, that this Chu campaign was of immense consequence — Qin would mobilize the entire realm.

"When the time comes, the various generals at the Chu front will don armor and grasp sharp blades, storming cities and seizing territory. On the day Chu is destroyed, they will naturally have the toil of warhorses and men, each receiving merit and reward."

"But the commanderies in the rear must also tally households, prepare troops, and send provisions a thousand li to supply the front lines. If that is done well, it will also be a great achievement!"

Ye Teng had been in Southern Commandery for nearly five years. With thunderous measures, he had punished bandits and powerful clan heads, bringing the once-chaotic Southern Commandery docilely to heel. He had also vigorously promoted Legalist indoctrination and rectified the official ranks. All of this was done as a performance for His Majesty.

He had no wish to grow old in the post of Commandery Governor. He still hoped to advance further and enter the imperial court! Even if he could not reach the positions of Chancellor or Imperial Secretary in one step, he at least wanted to become the Intendant of the Capital, governing the capital Xianyang and the forty-odd counties of the metropolitan region.

So this preparation for the Chu campaign was his final chance to show his worth.

"That by which a state rises is agriculture and war. Military affairs are under Li You's jurisdiction — his father is Li Si, so it is inconvenient for me to contend with him. I must therefore produce astonishing results in agriculture!"

At this critical juncture, Anlu County had presented methods of composting and retting fertilizer that could increase per-mu yields by forty to fifty percent, and then the Copper Office workshop had produced the water-powered trip-hammer that could save manpower!

Ye Teng had the Chief Clerk spread out the map of Southern Commandery. Southern Commandery had eighteen counties, with vast expanses of farmland, half paddy fields and half dry fields.

"The 'Yu Gong' says, 'From Jing Mountain to Hengyang is Jing Province. Its soil is mire and mud; its fields are ranked lower-middle…'"

Southern Commandery's population was not small — close to a million — but the land was not particularly fertile, rated merely as "lower-middle."

"But if we can spread the composting and retting fertilizer techniques across the entire commandery, at the autumn harvest we can reap at least thirty to forty percent more grain than last year!"

Lord Shang's laws placed heavy emphasis on agriculture. In peacetime, increased grain at the autumn harvest was also a key criterion for the annual evaluations — the excellent were commended and promoted, the inferior rebuked and punished. Even more so on the eve of the Chu campaign, when Qin urgently needed grain! Ye Teng could already imagine the King of Qin's praise:

"He who is good at governing the state, though his granaries be full, does not grow negligent in agriculture!"

Beyond that, there were the water-powered trip-hammers. In Ye Teng's view, these devices seemed tailor-made for Southern Commandery, because Southern Commandery had many waterways. Beyond the rivers drawn on the map, there were hundreds and thousands of streams rushing on without cease.

If water-powered trip-hammers could be widely adopted across South Commandery, setting up a few on every river, how much manpower could be saved? And then use that freed-up manpower to gather military supplies like animal hides, feathers, and timber — Ye Teng was confident he could make South Commandery a stunning success by the autumn harvest!

These two things are truly heaven-sent aid! This is why Ye Teng values Heifu so highly.

Only, out of a habit formed over many years of manipulating power and circumstance, he was unwilling to remain passive in this matter. So he resorted to scheming, making Heifu — who originally had no dealings with the commandery governor — owe him a "life-saving grace" for nothing, and also delivered a handle for "deception and dishonesty" right into his grasp. After all, he was just a young man.

Ye Teng laughed. "In truth, it is I who owe Heifu an enormous debt of gratitude. Why would I want to push such a man too hard? Though I gave him a rap on the knuckles today, afterward I will petition for recognition of his merits, have him made a Grand Master, and even his brother-in-law and eldest brother shall receive further rank promotions and office advancements!"

Only then did the Chief Clerk grasp Ye Teng's true plan, and could not help but bow in admiration. This was the insight of a man who wields the axe! Yet he hesitated and said, "A pity, though — that Heifu is already Li You's man."

"Who says so?" Ye Teng countered. "When Xunzi entered Qin, did he not say that the officials and grandees of Qin form no cliques and do not collude? That statement can be wrong, but it can also be right."

Ye Teng cupped his hands toward the north. "Because we are all officials of Qin, all of us are the King's own partisans! In the end, what difference is there between working for this commandery governor and working for Li You?"

(End of Chapter)