Chapter 248: Three Horses

A wanderer returning home — after taking up his post as Anlu County Commandant, Heifu had no time for anything else before he first attended two banquets.

The first was a public feast hosted by the Anlu County Magistrate and the County Assistant, held in the Magistrate's residence. Only the "Three Pillars" of Anlu were present: Magistrate Yong He sat in the host's seat, while Heifu and the County Assistant sat to his left and right, with the right side being the seat of honor. As soon as Heifu entered, he adopted the manner of a junior, saying the County Assistant was older and of higher rank, and so invited him to take the right seat.

As it happens, Qin's commanderies and counties differ in this respect: in a commandery, the Commandery Governor is chief, the Commandery Commandant second, and the Commandery Assistant is merely a six-hundred-dan official, far below the Governor and Commandant in rank. But in a county, the County Assistant slightly outranks the County Commandant…

Government bondmaids filed in carrying food boxes, laying out the meal for the three men. The Magistrate's household musicians plucked zithers and blew mouth-organs, singing softly and dancing gracefully.

Heifu was long past being the clueless Hu You patrol officer of over a year ago. Having served as a clerk in the commandery, he had attended many "high-society" occasions, even banqueting in the Commandery Governor's mansion. Now he could comport himself with courtesy and speak with considerable propriety, overturning the Magistrate and County Assistant's fixed impression of him as a "military brute."

Qin is a classic case of "the prefectural officials may set fires, but the common folk may not light a lamp." Group drinking is strictly forbidden among the populace, but once your rank reaches a certain level, drinking wine becomes as commonplace as drinking water — provided you are wealthy enough, because wine prices in Qin remain very high.

Over food and wine, the three men made small talk, which amounted to the Magistrate and County Assistant praising Heifu's youthful promise, calling him the youngest County Commandant they had seen in their dozen-odd years in office, and saying they had long recognized him as a sharp awl — the moment he entered the Commandery Commandant's bag, his point pierced right through!

As this customary banquet drew to a close, Magistrate Yong He led Heifu and the County Assistant into the courtyard. He clapped his hands, and someone drove a horse-drawn carriage into the spacious yard…

"Every Magistrate, Chief, Assistant, and Commandant is entitled to a dedicated carriage supplied by the stables. I had them select a new carriage — Commandant, take a look. Are you satisfied?"

"Many thanks, Magistrate!"

A trifling matter like this could have been handled by a stable clerk; why arrange it personally? Heifu knew perfectly well that the Magistrate was currying favor with him, and he hurriedly expressed his gratitude.

But he noticed that this carriage was a little different. He had seen the Commandery Governor's four-horse shafted carriage, and his own previous carriage had been two-horse shafted, but he had never seen a three-horse shafted one — a black, a red, and a yellow horse jammed together in this strange fashion…

Seeing Heifu's puzzled expression, Magistrate Yong He seized the moment, stroked his beard, and smiled: "The 'Xiao Rong' ode says: Four stallions, huge and stout, six reins held in the hand. The dappled and the bay are the inner pair; the yellow-black and the black are the outer pair… This three-horse carriage is just like Anlu County! And we three are just like these three horses!"

He pointed to the red horse in the middle: "The County Magistrate, the greater at six hundred dan, the lesser at four hundred dan, governs the people, promotes the worthy and exhorts righteousness, suppresses villainy and punishes evil, settles lawsuits and quells banditry, cares for the people's seasonal labors, and in autumn and winter assembles assessments and submits accounts to the commandery. The Magistrate is chief of all county officials, so this central shaft-horse is like me…"

Then he pointed in turn to the black and yellow horses on the left and right.

"The Assistant oversees documents and manages the granaries and prisons. The Commandant is in charge of bandits and robbers: whenever a robbery occurs and the culprit is unknown, he searches and tracks, investigates treachery and crime to find the thread. Beyond bandit matters, he also commands troops. These two outer horses on the left and right are like you two gentlemen!"

Yong He had a bit of learning in his belly. This borrowed analogy from the "Qin Airs" was brilliantly put and free of cliché, leaving Heifu with a deep impression — this Magistrate was no simple man!

Just as he said, the power structure at the county level in Qin truly resembles a three-horse shafted carriage. The County Magistrate, Assistant, and Commandant have duties that appear separate, yet overlap in many places.

Yong He spoke with earnest gravity: "A carriage needs the three horses to cooperate before it can travel steadily. If one horse wants to go forward, another backward, and another left, the carriage will not move an inch — it may even tumble into a ditch. The carriage of Anlu may not be large, but it carries a hundred li of land and tens of thousands of living souls. Gentlemen, we too must cooperate with complete sincerity!"

At this point, Yong He's meaning was clear: he hoped Heifu would march in step with them.

Heifu's goal was to train troops, and he also needed the Magistrate and Assistant's cooperation. He immediately cupped his hands: "Heifu comes from humble origins and is a junior besides. In all county matters henceforth, I will need the Magistrate and County Assistant's abundant guidance!"

With Heifu's stance made clear, the Magistrate and County Assistant both breathed a sigh of relief. What they had feared most was that Heifu, being too young, would like to act recklessly and, relying on backers in the commandery, go his own way in the county. Seeing him so steady and deeply versed in the ways of officialdom, they set their minds at ease, and the banquet grew merry once more.

Yet during the feast, Heifu was also pondering an interesting question.

"If county governance is like a carriage, and the county officials are like the horses, then who is it that holds the six reins and controls its direction?"

The Commandery Governor? The King of Qin? Or the laws of Qin themselves?

…

Having won over his superiors and colleagues, he still needed to gather his subordinates — separated for half a year — back under his banner. So the next day, Heifu also held a banquet at his own County Commandant's residence, inviting all his old followers: besides his younger brother Jing, there were Li Xian, Xiao Tao, Dongmen Bao, and Ji Ying.

Everyone here today was one of their own, so there was no need to stand on ceremony. They sat together in a jumble. Having not seen each other for a long time, they joyfully reminisced about old times and, during the feast, passed around Heifu's official seal…

Heifu was now "equivalent to four hundred dan," so his seal's ribbon had changed from the hundred-dan blue-black to yellow. Everyone passed it around as gingerly as if cradling pearls and jade, utterly envious.

This was awe and envy of power. Yet everyone also felt that within this official seal lay a share of their own hard work. Thus, under the influence of alcohol, they began, intentionally or not, to show Heifu what they had accomplished.

"These past six months have truly not been easy."

Though Ji Ying was still skinny as ever, he was newly married and living well, his complexion gradually filling out and growing rosy. He began recounting how, over the past half year, he had used his position as a township postal clerk to secretly open quite a few private letters that sons of the Yun clan had slipped into official correspondence, digging up a good deal of dirt on them.

Heifu laughed: "I recall back at Huyang Station, we nearly opened an anonymous letter of accusation."

Everyone burst out laughing.

"I'm not the man I was then."

Ji Ying loved to boast and quickly added: "Now I've reached the point where I can open a letter tablet, then restore it so no one can spot the tampering!"

So saying, he even gave a demonstration. He found an official document Heifu had not yet opened, examined the seal paste on it, then actually carved a replica on the spot out of a radish. He deftly untied the binding cord, inspected the contents, then restored it. The new red seal paste on the binding cord was so convincing it could pass for the real thing, leaving Heifu's younger brother Jing utterly dumbstruck…

"That's just a petty trick."

Dongmen Bao looked thoroughly unimpressed. "Yun Man had several estates in Beijiao Township with dozens of retainers. After the village chief arrested Yun Man, those retainers tried to stir up trouble. It was I who led the village station guards and local commoners, together with Xiao Tao and the county troops, who surrounded the estates. Only after a pitched fight did we put down that disturbance… Xiao Tao, say something!"

Xiao Tao remained as taciturn as ever, only stammering at last: "If… if we're talking about who contributed the most, it… it has to be Master Li."

On this point, no one disagreed. While Heifu was away, it was Li Xian who had coordinated them all, keeping them united to bring down Yun Man instead of scattering like loose sand. And in those final days, it was Li Xian who devised the plan to lure Yun Man to the government temple and capture him.

At this, Heifu had everyone present join him in toasting Li Xian a cup of wine!

Li Xian smiled bitterly: "In that same case, I also tricked the Li clan elder. Now I'm just satisfied not to be reviled by my clansmen — how dare I claim credit?"

He returned the toast to Heifu: "Had the Commandant not uncovered Yun Man's grave crimes up in the commandery, our piddling little charges could never have brought him down. Now that our Chief has returned and won the post of County Commandant, our six months of scheming have not been in vain."

"Indeed."

Dongmen Bao added: "From this day forward, the Anlu County Commandant's office answers to the Commandant alone. Our good days have finally arrived! I won't have to tiptoe around anymore, afraid the Yun clan will get something on me, right?"

Ji Ying also egged him on: "Commandant, when will you tour the county? Take us along and let us put on a proper show of authority!"

"I did not come to Anlu as County Commandant to rest and show off."

Heifu set down his cup and said gravely: "I have come to this post to train Anlu's thousand-odd young men into a crack brigade! I fear you gentlemen do not yet know — after the autumn harvest, Qin and Chu will go to war once more!"

Aside from Li Xian, everyone else looked surprised, then glanced at one another.

"War again?"

Only afterward did they react, cupping their hands in ragged unison: "We will certainly do our utmost to assist the Commandant in training the troops!"

Amid the chorus of assent, Heifu keenly sensed something amiss: in their speech and bearing, they seemed to lack their former enthusiasm for war, instead exuding an air of complacency and contentment…

"Only half a year out of the army, and these fellows are already growing slack?"

Heifu felt a twinge of displeasure, but then it dawned on him.

"Being content with the status quo — that's normal, isn't it!"

After all, they were just a bunch of men from the counties and townships, with no good education and no broad horizons. Unlike two years ago when they left Anlu — when everyone was dirt poor and most held no rank — they had all won promotions and wealth in the wars. Now that their old nemesis Yun Man had been destroyed, they had fallen into a state of aimlessness, even feeling that "this life is enough." They only wanted to throw their weight around back home and turn into another Yun clan clique.

As for the coming war, they showed even less enthusiasm. And why should they? When you already have everything, why go risk your life in battle? Even if they were not sparrows, they were at best green-headed wild ducks from the counties and townships. Heifu could not demand that every man have the ambition of a swan!

If even his own trusted confidants were like this, how could he talk of forging an elite, crack force?

So Heifu thought for a moment, then suddenly smiled: "It has truly been too long since I've had a good talk with you all. Now that we are gathered here so难得, today we shall talk to our hearts' content!"

"Back then, we came from humble beginnings, often suffering from cold and hunger, either rushing about just to make a living or struggling to avoid dying in a ditch. Now we are all officials of Qin, having attained noble ranks. Though our family wealth is not great, it is enough for our wives and children to live in comfort. Since those livelihood worries are gone, I would like to hear your plans and aspirations going forward."

Having said this, he abruptly rose to his feet and, in the commanding tone he had used back in the army, declared: "Everyone, speak your ambitions here and now!"

(End of Chapter)