Chapter 266: Between Feng and Pei

In the fifth year of King Fuchu of Chu, second month, in Zhongyang Hamlet, Fengyi Township, Pei County — inside a small two-courtyard house, a great mulberry tree spread like a canopy over the yard. Beneath its shade, a father and son stood facing off, the mood extremely tense.

Liu Ji, a thirty-three-year-old bachelor with a headscarf tied over his hair bun and a thick beard, first glanced down at the leather ball on the ground, its belly slashed open by a bronze awl, then looked up at his fuming old father, Liu Taigong, and broke into a grin.

"Father, if you're angry, just hit me. Why take it out on the ball? I paid thirty ant-nose coins for it at the town market — what a waste…"

Liu Taigong's features somewhat resembled Liu Ji's — both had prominent foreheads and high-bridged noses. In his youth, he too had cut a fine figure. Now, old, his beard and hair streaked with white, he was not yet at the age of needing a cane. On clear days, he could still go work the fields with his son Liu Zhong.

The old Liu family had once been grandees of the Wei state, relocating to Fengyi only forty years ago. Though long past their days of bell-ringing feasts in great halls, they still owned two qing of good land and a five-mu homestead, kept dogs and pigs. With careful management, feeding and clothing the family was no problem — Liu Taigong could even afford to take a concubine.

Yet now, at an age when he should be playing with grandchildren, he could find no peace — all because of his worthless third son, Liu Ji…

"Unfilial wretch!"

Liu Taigong sat down angrily on the doorstep. He had just returned from transplanting rice seedlings with his second son, only to find that Liu Ji, who had been nowhere in sight when the work was being done, had been playing cuju with the hamlet youths.

Cuju was the favorite game of the gallant bravos of Qi and Chu. Liu Ji was highly skilled, making the ball dance in dazzling patterns, but those youths, over ten years his junior, could only kick with brute force. One wild kick had smashed the jars and pots in the yard!

Seeing they had caused trouble, the youths scattered in a hubbub. Liu Ao, inside the house, came out cursing the little brats, heartbroken as she tidied up. Only Liu Ji treated it as nothing, laughing uproariously.

Liu Taigong's anger had nowhere to go, so he had stabbed Liu Ji's leather ball to ruin, roaring: "Liu Ji, are you truly my flesh and blood? Idling all day, never doing proper work — you don't resemble me in the slightest!"

Liu Ji could not help laughing and looked toward his mother.

Liu Ao, nearby, did not like the sound of that. She stood up, hands on her hips, and scolded Liu Taigong by name: "Liu Ang, didn't you spend your youth cockfighting and playing cuju all day in Zhongyang Hamlet? I'd say Ji'er is the one who most takes after you!"

Having his past exposed, Liu Taigong's voice dropped a few notches. "That was my youth. By my twenties, I'd taken up farming for a living. Who's like this unfilial wretch, thirty-three years old and still loafing around with hamlet youths ten-odd years younger than him."

Liu Ji cut in: "Everyone around my age has been conscripted to guard the city walls. I can only play with those youngsters…"

Liu Taigong grew angrier: "You dare talk back? The year before last, you brazenly begged me for over a thousand coins, saying you were going to Wei to do great things. And the result? You left empty-handed and came back empty-handed — even lost your sword scabbard! Ever since you returned, all you do is idle about. That's the 'great thing' you spoke of!?"

"Enough, enough." Seeing her husband dredging up old grievances, Liu Ao hastily smoothed things over and called them to eat.

Four people sat at the table. The eldest brother, Liu Bo, had died early; the second brother, Liu Zhong, had split off to live on his own; the youngest brother, Liu Jiao, was away studying abroad. Now, the household held only Liu Taigong's wife and concubine, along with Liu Ji, that shameless freeloader.

"Still no meat today."

Liu Ji eyed the plain fare with some pickiness, lost in thought. Ever since Qin and Chu had gone to war north of the Huai River several months ago, Feng and Pei, as border towns, had grown visibly tense. The Chu authorities were demanding double the grain levy compared to previous years.

Liu Taigong, still angry, turned away, unwilling to look at Liu Ji. Liu Ao, doting, heaped her son's bowl full of rice and earnestly advised him:

"Ji'er, your father has a point. I've asked people to arrange a match for you, but hearing you're still shiftless, no one wants to marry their daughter off. If this continues, do you plan never to wed? Why not learn from your second brother and help the family with farming and managing the estate?"

Without a blush or a skipped heartbeat, Liu Ji said: "I'm restless by nature. I don't like farming."

Truth be told, he rather looked down on his second brother, so timid and stingy, knowing only how to scratch a living from the dirt.

"Then how about following your younger brother's path and going away to study?"

The son born to Liu Taigong's concubine, Lady Li, was named Liu Jiao. He had a natural love of learning and was somewhat renowned in the hamlet. The year before, he had been sent to study the Odes and Documents under Fuqiu Bo in the Lu region.

Though the Feng-Pei region was called "Western Chu," its proximity to Zou and Lu made it quite fond of Confucian learning. Young men studying Confucian arts had a path forward — the better ones might be invited by Chu county dukes or governors to serve as retainers; at worst, they could officiate funerals and earn a little spare coin. In his youth, Liu Ji had at least learned to read alongside the hamlet elders. In his mother's eyes, if her son only applied himself, he could certainly succeed — no worse than that concubine's son!

To her surprise, Liu Ji's face showed even greater disgust. He detested Confucians and their teachings above all. In his wandering gallant days, whenever he saw those shabby scholars in Pei County, he would snatch the tall Confucian caps right off their heads and piss in them!

"In that case, how about becoming a merchant? Or a dog-butcher or wine-seller? If you need capital, I still have some spare money here…"

Feng-Pei, like Chen, was connected to the fish and salt trade, so merchants were common among the people, and there was no excessive prejudice against those in business — it was still a viable path.

Liu Taigong, nearby, spat. "Let him sell wine or butcher dogs? He'd probably get himself drunk and eat his fill before anything else!"

Hearing this, Liu Ji could hold back no longer. He handed his cleaned-out bowl back to his mother. "Mother, wait until this period passes before thinking of a path for me. Right now, I need to hide at home. If I show my face rashly, I'll likely be press-ganged by the authorities — forced to guard the city walls, just like our neighbor A'wan!"

Lu Wan was Liu Ji's neighbor. The two were born on the same day of the same month in the same year. The villagers had brought sheep and wine to congratulate both families, even stirring up a fuss for the two to become sworn brothers.

When they grew up, they were indeed as close as brothers. They had studied under the same hamlet teacher to learn reading, becoming schoolmates who respected and cared for each other. Later, they roamed as gallants together. Lu Wan often tagged behind Liu Ji as his junior. When Liu Ji got into trouble and Chu officials came looking, he would frequently hide at Lu Wan's home.

But this time, Lu Wan had not been clever enough. Just as spring began, the conscription agents caught him, tied him with straw ropes, and escorted him to the Fengyi military camp. They said he was to serve as a soldier, defending the city against the enemy. Old Mr. and Mrs. Lu could do nothing but weep, terrified that once the fighting started, he would not return…

"Defend against what enemy? This tiny Fengyi — five hundred Qin soldiers could take it with ease! If three thousand Qin troops came, they could sweep through Pei County and advance on the Si River…"

Though Liu Ji spoke the Chu tongue and wore Chu clothes, he had not a shred of loyalty to die for the King of Chu or the Pei County governor. He had seen the world, had watched the Wei state crumble thunderously under the Qin army's onslaught, and knew then that Feng-Pei, separated from Wei only by a narrow strip of water, could not escape either.

So after returning, he had grown listless, unwilling to do much of anything. Study? Trade? What was the use? The world was about to change! Whatever he did these two years would sooner or later be overturned and started anew. He was simply waiting for the day heaven and earth turned upside down!

Just then, a call came from outside.

"Is Liu Ji home?"

…

Hearing someone outside call his name, Liu Ji jolted. He set his unfinished bowl of rice on the ground and dashed toward the granary. Liu Taigong, for his part, had no time to stay angry now. Once his son was hidden, he slowly opened the door — only to see a minor clerk in crimson robes and a crimson cap standing outside…

Liu Taigong was a man of some standing in the hamlet. Seeing it was merely the lowliest young clerk, he put on a stern face and refused him: "Liu Ji is not here. I have no idea where that unfilial wretch has gone, whether he's dead or alive! Go look elsewhere!"

The clerk at the door craned his neck to peer inside. He glanced at the somewhat nervous expressions of Liu Ao and Lady Li, then at the four sets of bowls and spoons on the table. How could he not understand? He smiled and said: "Lord Liu, do you not remember me? I'm Ren Ao from Pei County! A good friend of Liu Ji's. I once came here to share a meal with him, got drunk, and was chased off by you with a broom…"

"Liu Ji himself told me he would be at home, and to come find him here if I had business."

Liu Taigong hesitated a moment. Seeing the man did indeed look familiar, he let him in and called toward the yard. Liu Ji immediately burst out from the pile of straw where he had hidden, not caring that his body and head were covered in stalks. Laughing heartily, he came over and embraced the clerk.

"So it's Ren Ao who's come!"

Ren Ao was someone Liu Ji had met while following Wang Ling as a gallant in Pei County. He worked as a minor clerk in the county governor's mansion. Though only a clerk, he was deeply loyal and principled — exactly to Liu Ji's taste. The two had become the closest of friends. It was Ren Ao who had tipped Liu Ji off in advance about the county's conscription drive, telling him to go elsewhere and lie low.

He invited Ren Ao to sit and eat, adding out of habit: "Bring out the good wine and meat…"

Only after speaking did he recall this was home, not a wineshop. He could only rub his beard awkwardly and ask his mother to pour some water.

Ren Ao was not like Liu Ji's gang of gallant followers in Fengyi, coming to scrounge food and drink. With some gravity, he said to Liu Ji: "I've come to Fengyi on official business this time."

"Oh?" Liu Ji was sharp and caught on immediately. "Could it be the county is levying grain again?"

"Indeed! Households left of the lane gate must pay two dan of grain! Those right of the lane gate, anywhere from five to ten dan!"

Liu Taigong, listening nearby, immediately jumped up. "Five dan? If we hand over that much grain, my family will be eating dirt!"

This was, of course, an exaggeration. Their family were small landowners; no matter how hard things got, they still had several dozen dan of grain stored. But this was already the third grain levy since the tenth month of last year, and each levy was heavier than the last, as if they wanted to wring every last surplus grain from the common people! Even Liu Ji's family would have to tighten their belts. Those poor households in the town would probably truly have to eat dirt, as in famine years.

"It seems military provisions at the front are critically short — they can barely hold on."

"That's right. I've heard that north and south of the Huai, nearly every household must send one or two men to the front, either as soldiers or to transport grain, because Qin has massed several hundred thousand troops."

That meant Chu had dragged nearly a tenth of its population to the front lines. Five hundred thousand men, plus livestock, would consume close to a million dan of grain each month. Though Chu was wealthy, its granaries were emptying by the day. The King of Chu, frantic, had first squeezed grain from the enfeoffed lords, but it still wasn't enough. Now, he could only turn his thoughts to the common people.

But the common people were suffering too. Nearly all able-bodied men of age had been dragged to the front or conscripted locally to guard the cities. In the busy second month of farming, only the elderly and women could work the fields — already a bitter hardship. Now, with the King of Chu ordering every county to scour for grain, it was adding frost atop snow.

Spring planting was already delayed, and the summer harvest was still far off. How were they to endure these months when the old grain was gone and the new had yet to come?

"I tell you, this Great Chu is finished!"

Liu Ji, however, did not gnash his teeth or seethe with anguish like most people would — instead, a smile appeared on his face.

He had known for two years now that this day would surely come!

He in turn urged Ren Ao to stop risking his life for the County Magistrate and go home and lie low as soon as possible. Ren Ao had already been thinking the same. Over the last hundred years, the people of Feng and Pei had changed their nationality three times among Song, Wei, and Chu — nearly once a generation — so their sense of national identity was extremely weak.

Just as Liu Ji and Ren Ao were discussing the state of affairs, the door of Liu Ji's house was knocked on once again!

And this time, the knocking was especially urgent! It really did sound a bit like officials coming to arrest someone!

Liu Ji hurriedly prepared to hide in the grain storehouse again, while Liu Taigong went impatiently to open the door.

"Who is it now?"

When the door opened, there stood a Chu foot soldier in armor but without his weapon, his face full of anxiety. Even as he knocked, he kept glancing back and forth outside — things seemed to have fallen into chaos over there too.

Liu Taigong was shocked. "A Wan? Aren't you supposed to be serving as a soldier guarding the city walls?"

"Elder Liu! Guard what city walls!"

Lu Wan's face was etched with worry as he cried out, "The Qin army has broken through — a dark, crushing tide, impossible to hold back. The walls only managed one volley of arrows before the Town Grandee turned and fled. We all scattered right after. Thank goodness I listened to what Brother Ji told me before — run the moment things look bad! Otherwise I'd be a Qin captive by now, and I'd never see Elder Liu or Brother Ji again!"

……

In mid-second month, Xiang Yan, stationed at the great encampment north of the Huai River, also received word that the Qin army had invaded, Feng and Pei had fallen, and the Lu region and Pengcheng were in dire straits. His expression could not help but change.

"Could it be that Wang Jian deliberately lured the main strength of our army to wait here in vain, while defending in the south and attacking in the north, intending to sweep through the eastern territories?"

PS:

Wrote for a long time and then felt it wasn't good, deleted and rewrote, struggled until now. Only one chapter today, ahem, now I'm back to owing 8 chapters again ⊙﹏⊙b sweat.

When the Retired Emperor moved to Chang'an and dwelt in the deep palace, he was despondent and unhappy. The Gaozu Emperor secretly asked his attendants the reason. It turned out that all his life he had enjoyed the company of butchers and peddlers, drinking, selling cakes, cockfighting, and cuju, taking his pleasure in such things one after another. Now none of these were to be found, and that was why he was unhappy. The Gaozu Emperor therefore built New Feng, moved all his old acquaintances there to populate it, and the Retired Emperor was pleased. — Miscellaneous Records of the Western Capital

So Qin really didn't care for playing cuju after all.

(End of chapter)