Chapter 230: A Relief Force Certain to Come from Outside

That afternoon, word reached the county that the Yi Dao County Magistrate, the County Commandant, and over a hundred county conscripts had been ambushed and trapped on the upper Yi River — instantly throwing the small town of Yi Dao into high tension.

Inside the cramped county temple, Qin officials of two-hundred-bushel rank and above were gathered together, their faces full of worry as they argued back and forth.

"Earlier they said it was just two tribes fighting over land and killing each other, asking the Magistrate to mediate — I never imagined it would be rebellion! We must suppress this swiftly," the Prison Scribe said, shaking his head repeatedly.

"Suppress it? Right now we don't even know if the Magistrate and Commandant are alive or dead. Only two of the conscripts who went with them escaped back. Yi Dao is already emptied out. If the Ba people come attacking the town again, whether we can even hold it is still unknown — and you talk of suppression..." the Fields Bailiff said gloomily.

As men of the government, they knew Yi Dao's situation: because the registered households were concentrated only around the county seat, the number of county conscripts was smaller than in an ordinary county, and now the greater half had been lost outside.

Just at that moment, the County Deputy walked into the hall. Walking abreast with him was an official wearing crimson robes, a board cap, and a bronze seal with a green cord sash...

Beaming with delight, the County Deputy said, "Gentlemen, the Commandery Governor already knows of the Yi Dao affair. This Left Troops Clerk is here from Yiling!"

"The commandery learned of it so quickly."

Hearing this, the crowd at once let out a breath of relief and all turned to ask Hei Fu, "May we ask, honored clerk, when will the relief troops arrive?"

Hei Fu swept his eyes over the crowd. "The day after tomorrow."

"The day after tomorrow?"

One official, seeing that Hei Fu was young and hearing that the commandery troops had not yet arrived, immediately wilted like an eggplant hit by frost. "This Yi Dao town is small and its walls are low. The county conscripts number less than a hundred. If the Ba chieftains attack with several thousand tribesmen, I fear we cannot hold even a single day. It would be better to have everyone in the town board boats and cross to the north bank, lest we be harmed by the Yi bandits..."

"You are?" Hei Fu could only tell that this defeatist's rank was Grandee, but had no idea what his specific post was.

The official said, "This humble clerk is the Fields Bailiff."

Hei Fu's face immediately hardened. "You are, after all, a two-hundred-bushel chief clerk in charge of a section's affairs. Now that rebellion is about to break out, instead of thinking how to preserve the locality, you instead wish to flee at the first rumor. Where is the Prison Scribe?"

"This humble clerk is here!" The official who had just now urged swift suppression hurriedly answered.

Hei Fu revealed the gilded-silver tiger tally. "The Commandery Governor has entrusted me with the tiger tally, authorizing me to mobilize the troops of Yi Dao. All military clerks and county conscripts shall obey my command. By military law, anyone who praises the enemy to terrorize the troops — execution! We are not yet at war, but the Fields Bailiff has boosted the enemy's prestige and sapped our morale. By established precedent, drag him out and give him thirty strokes of the bamboo! And record his crime — once the rebellion is quelled, let the Commandery Governor decide his fate."

His eyes swept over the crowd. "From this moment on, anyone in the town who violates the prohibitions — beheaded!"

Hei Fu had, after all, fought and bled in the army, and his words carried a murderous edge. Everyone was awed; no one dared speak defeatist words again.

After the Fields Bailiff was dragged away amid a chorus of pleas for mercy, Hei Fu turned to the County Deputy. "The Commandery Governor has granted me discretionary authority. The County Deputy shall act in the Magistrate's stead, and I shall act in the Commandant's stead to command this county's troops. This arrangement — what does Your Honor think?"

"In such an extraordinary moment, we truly cannot tolerate those who praise the enemy and terrorize the masses."

The County Deputy hastily responded, "The survival of Yi Dao rests entirely upon the Left Troops Clerk!"

Qin law was harsh; if a local chief official lost his defended town, he too would be held accountable. The County Deputy had no wish for his entire family to be reduced to penal laborers along with him, and he himself knew nothing of military matters, so he treated Hei Fu as his final lifeline.

Hei Fu addressed the county clerks of hundred-bushel rank and above: "Military law states: for forces of a hundred men or more, those who retreat in battle, surrender while defending, abandon their posts and flee their troops — these are deemed military traitors. Not only shall the man himself die, his family property shall be seized, and every man and woman of his household reduced to bondservants. As it is for army commanders, so it is for defending officials. Most of you gentlemen came from other places to hold office and serve as clerks in Yi Dao. You would not wish, because of a moment's cowardice, to bring ruin upon your entire families, old and young, would you?"

This speech steadied the Qin clerks' hearts, making them realize that, apart from defending the town and fighting, they had no way out. Afterward, Hei Fu summoned the minor clerks of each office and sent them into the town's wards and hamlets, ordering that every able-bodied man from every household must come forth and assemble at the town armory!

At noon, Hei Fu had sent men to pursue the Yi Dao County Magistrate and County Commandant but failed to catch up; he only saw the grisly aftermath of their ambush by the local Ba "Yi tribe." Upon learning this news, he immediately presented the tiger tally to the County Deputy, went down to the barracks, and inspected Yi Dao's county conscripts. Because the Commandant had taken half of them away, only a hundred remained — mostly light infantry, with a dozen or so archers who could shoot.

Though their numbers were few, they were fortunately stationed in a border county, their training passable, and they had done no small amount of rebellion-suppressing and bandit-hunting.

Hei Fu ordered the local Centurion to lead the troops and follow him, and waited outside the county armory. Before long, the minor clerks from each section came in from all directions, followed behind by young and able-bodied men who were still somewhat bewildered, not knowing what had happened. Thanks to Qin's sharply delineated household registration system, those living inside the town were mostly Qin people, or else "Xia offspring" of mixed Qin and Yi blood. Within the town were over five hundred households, yielding eight or nine hundred able-bodied young men. Together with the county conscripts and minor clerks, that made roughly a thousand men. Defending a town demanded far less of troop quality than open-field battle. Looking at this number, Hei Fu felt a little more grounded in his heart.

The Yi Dao County Deputy was still somewhat uneasy and said in a low voice, "Left Troops Clerk, if we let everyone know of this matter, will it not throw people's hearts into chaos?"

"Since the Yi tribe dared to ambush the Magistrate and Commandant, attacking the town is only a matter of time. When that time comes, if we rely solely on the county conscripts, we won't even fill one side of the wall. The main force defending the town will still be these common able-bodied men. We cannot keep it from them."

The County Deputy's worry was not unfounded. When Hei Fu concisely informed them of what had happened that day, all seven or eight hundred men turned pale with shock.

"Gentlemen, do not fret. We are merely following orders to defend the town. The Commandery Governor's relief troops will arrive before long!"

Hei Fu had felt it in the last war: trapped alone in an isolated city, anyone would be anxious and afraid. But if there was a relief force certain to come from outside, people's hearts would naturally steady themselves considerably.

After giving them a sliver of hope and slightly calming the able-bodied townsmen, Hei Fu then dropped a heavy piece of news. "I have heard that of the county conscripts who left the town with the Magistrate and Commandant this morning, aside from the two who fled back, all the rest were slaughtered to the last man! The Yi tribe chieftain has also declared that if he breaks Yi Dao town, he will massacre it — all men killed, all women carried off — and he will surely turn the Yi River red!"

These words made the Qin people inside the town bristle with hair-raising dread, and they broke into furious curses. The fathers and elder brothers of those county conscripts, hearing this, beat their chests and stamped their feet, overcome with rage.

Like the Ba people, the Qin were also martial. Once these several hundred men were stirred up by Hei Fu, sustained by hatred and fear, merely holding the town for two days should not be too difficult.

After mobilizing the masses and distributing the long and short weapons from the armory to them, Hei Fu also found a suit of armor, donned it, picked up his weapon, and ascended the watchtower where Yi Dao's western and southern walls met. This town was indeed far too crude — the walls were barely two zhang high, and even this watchtower was only three zhang tall, inferior even to the Outer Yellow County of Wei that they had conquered...

"I can only hope that the fighting strength these local Qin people erupt with, under the fear of a city massacre, can compare to the wandering knights of Outer Yellow."

Hei Fu had never crossed hands with the Ba people, but he had heard that they were a martial tribe, highly skilled in both water and land warfare. At this moment, though he feigned calm before the Yi Dao crowd, his heart was still somewhat uneasy. After all, the art of war also said: knowing yourself but not the enemy — for every victory, a defeat.

"Why has Ba Zhong not returned yet? Or rather — will he still return?"

After learning that the Yi Dao County Magistrate and Commandant had been ambushed at the Yi River, Hei Fu had split up with Ba Zhong. He entered Yi Dao to prepare defensive measures, while Ba Zhong pretended to go to Wuluo Zhongli Mountain to offer sacrifices to his ancestors, venturing deep into enemy territory to scout the situation...

Although the Yi Dao Ba people had revolted, this was only a special case. The Ba people of Ba Commandery, at least, still inclined toward Qin. Who between Qin and Chu would ultimately prevail, and who could bring the greatest benefit to her family — this was a calculation that the Widow Ba Qing surely could not get wrong.

As if in answer to Hei Fu, at that moment, on the road west of Yi Dao, one rider and one man came hurrying back — it was Ba Zhong and his trusted follower, the "Tiger-Shooting Warrior" Dan Hu. Though on foot, Dan Hu moved with astonishing speed, keeping tight behind his master's horse's rump.

The men on Yi Dao's walls, seeing Dan Hu dressed in Ba fashion, immediately grew very alarmed. Hei Fu personally went over and had them lower the banners and still the drums, put down their bows and arrows, and let the two men enter.

"How is it?"

The moment Ba Zhong entered the town, Hei Fu went over and grabbed his horse's bridle, asking urgently.

"The matter is beyond salvaging!"

Although Ba Zhong's honored status as a "Son of the Ba Clan" was there for all to see, and with his family's wealth added to it, no one among the Ba people dared make trouble for him, and he could leave at his leisure.

Yet his face was still somewhat pale. After drinking a mouthful of water, he said, "The chieftain of the Yi tribe is called Fan Qin, also of one of the five clans of the old Ba kingdom. It was he who devised this ambush and coerced several small tribes into joining. Now the Yi Dao County Magistrate and Commandant are both dead! The various tribal chieftains have no way back. And I also discovered..."

Ba Zhong looked at Hei Fu. "Among these Ba people, there is also a detachment of clan troops from the Qu clan of Chu!"

(End of Chapter)