Chapter 3: A Noble Rank Is Hard to Come By

As far as Heifu knew, after Shang Yang's reforms, the Qin state had twenty ranks of nobility, from the lowest, Gongshi and Shangzao, all the way up to the highest, Marquis of Guannei and Marquis of Chehou.

According to Qin law, if you obtained a noble rank, you would receive fields, a house, and servants and slaves to work for you. With every promotion, your treatment rose like a boat on a rising tide — you could transform from a pauper without even a sliver of land into a small landlord, a great landlord, or even a lord with your own fief!

The higher the rank, the higher the office you could hold.

Heifu guessed that, historically, the reason he and his brother had died in battle was because they had served as common foot soldiers who charged the lines and broke the formations.

But if he already held a rank when he was conscripted, he would serve as an officer with his own subordinates, which was tantamount to holding his own life in his hands — as long as he was careful and cautious, he would surely have a chance to survive!

That was the dream, but right now, Heifu was still a rank 0 common conscript. Forget about Dafu or Guan Dafu — even a rank 1 Gongshi title was not easy to earn.

In Qin, there were roughly the following ways to gain a rank. The quickest was to earn merit by cutting off heads on the battlefield!

Qin law stipulated: "One who cuts off one head is promoted one rank." The Gongshi title that his elder brother Zhong had inherited was earned by their father after several bloody battles, having barely managed to take a single head. The price was that his cheap old man had come home covered in wounds and died within a few years…

Beyond that, ranks could also be earned through diligent farming, reporting crimes, catching bandits, or accumulating merit as a minor clerk. The problem was that farming showed no results without three to five years of labor; opportunities to report crimes or catch bandits were rare and could not be sought out; and as for being a minor clerk…

Right now, Heifu was just a clueless youth barely come of age, with no connections or achievements — who would appoint him a clerk? That Han ancestor Liu Bang had been able to become a Qin village head because of the reputation he had built up as a wandering knight in his hometown in earlier years. These were things that the greenhorn Heifu simply did not have.

His thoughts were a tangled mess, just like the violent rain outside, which beat against the roof tiles with a sharp crackle. The inn seemed like a solitary boat adrift on the surging waves of the Cloud Dream Marsh.

Heifu felt that he too was a small boat in this era of great upheaval, swept along by the current. Even though he knew the grand course of events — "The Qin king swept through the six states, how fierce his tiger-like gaze!" — his lowly birth kept him from finding a way to join in for the moment…

And so, after a night of muddled sleep, Heifu rose early the next morning. He pushed open the door — the rain outside had stopped. That Dafu's carriage was still parked in the courtyard, lacquered in a beautiful red and black. One white horse and one black horse were already harnessed, ready to depart at any moment. Poor Heifu, however, would have to walk all the way to the county seat, and would probably wear blisters all over his feet.

After washing his face with water dripping from the eaves, Heifu left the inn. Someone was already waiting for him at the gate — it was Ji Ying, the one who had told the story of "Jing Ke's Assassination on Qin" the night before. As it happened, he said he was a common conscript from Yunshui Township and was also heading to the county to serve.

Before Heifu could say anything, Ji Ying very warmly proposed they team up: "It's still more than half a day's journey to the county seat. Why not travel together? We can look out for each other."

Heifu thought it made sense. The two of them serving together were comrades-in-arms, and they would be spending every waking hour together for the next month, so he set off with Ji Ying.

Anlu County's terrain was low in the south and high in the north. The south was the Cloud Dream Marsh, a flat and fertile wilderness known as "Cloud Dream Township." The central area, through which the Yun River flowed into the Cloud Dream Marsh, had a river valley plain and was called "Yunshui Township." The north was a region of hills and ridges, where layered peaks stood out in beauty, and that was where the county seat was located. The two men slowly made their way north along the road beside the Cloud Dream Marsh.

After a night of torrential rain, the great Cloud Dream Marsh had returned to calm. Fish leaped from the water, and white egrets strolled slowly across the shallows. Ji Ying was a local conscript from this township and knew the area very well. Being a talkative fellow, he spent the whole journey introducing the local scenery and customs to Heifu.

"Heifu, do you know that this Anlu County, and indeed the entire Nan Commandery, was Chu territory just over fifty years ago?"

"Of course I know."

Heifu nodded. Nan Commandery was the later Hubei Province, and also the former heartland of Chu, whose administrative seat, Jiangling, was the Chu capital of Ying. Decades ago, the great Qin general Bai Qi attacked Chu. In the Battle of Yan and Ying, he drowned over a hundred thousand Chu soldiers and scattered the Chu army. King Qingxiang of Chu abandoned his capital and fled east; it was only after this that Qu Yuan, in grief and indignation, threw himself into the river. Counting back, three generations ago, Heifu's ancestors had also been Chu people, and to this day their Chu accent had not changed.

"Then you should know even more that this Cloud Dream Marsh area was the hunting park of the Chu kings. My grandfather once told me of the grand spectacle of the Chu king's hunts back in the day. He said there were a thousand chariots in a team, banners blotted out the sky, wild buffalo and tigers were chased all over the ground, and with a casual raise of the hand and draw of the bow, you could shoot dead a muntjac…"

Having said this, Ji Ying licked his lips. After talking the whole way, Heifu had more or less grasped this peer's temperament: talkative, a bit clever, and somewhat gluttonous. He teased him: "Don't tell me you're craving meat again?"

"Who wouldn't be?"

Ji Ying shot back, but then patted his skinny belly and sighed: "It's a pity the Cloud Dream Marsh has dried up a lot lately, and all sorts of wild animals have migrated elsewhere. Even the small ponds near the road where you could fish — no one dares go there now."

Heifu asked, puzzled: "Why is that?"

"Because recently there have been many fugitives fleeing south, hiding in the marsh as bandits! I've heard that quite a few merchants and fishermen passing through here have been robbed of their goods and killed! The county has repeatedly ordered the nearby stations and lodges to hunt them down, but the criminals always escape. That's exactly why I asked you to travel together."

"Fugitives turned bandits?" Heifu's heart stirred. He looked into the distance. This place was a continuous stretch of marshes, with thickets growing everywhere — indeed a perfect spot to take to the hills as an outlaw, robbing houses and waylaying travelers.

Nan Commandery was interlocked with the Jiangnan region of Chu. The area was dense with mountain forests and crisscrossed by rivers and lakes. Whether they were Qin fugitives evading military service or refugees from Chu, they all liked to flee into the Cloud Dream Marsh.

In an official document from April of this year, the "Letter to Officials," even Teng, the Governor of Nan Commandery, helplessly admitted that among all Qin commanderies, Nan Commandery had the most depraved customs and the worst public order. Anlu County was the worst-hit area. There were plenty of small-time thieves in groups of three or five along the banks, and the common folk in this region dared not go out alone.

Heifu, however, was not afraid. He had not spent three years at the police academy for nothing; he had learned some combat skills and figured dealing with one or two bandits would be no problem. He patted the short sword at his waist and laughed: "If those bandits are blind enough to try and rob you and me, then they've picked the wrong men!"

"How valiant, Heifu!" Ji Ying laughed heartily. He too became animated, puffing out his chest and boasting: "Actually, I also have some martial skills. In Yunshui Township, who hasn't heard the name of Ji Ying of Hekou Village…"

Heifu looked at his skinny, monkey-like frame and smiled without a word.

Who could have guessed that before the words had even faded, at the end of the small path ahead, obscured by thickets, countless green-headed wild ducks were startled into flight. Then came a desperate, hoarse cry for help: "Bandits! Help! Help!"

"Bandits?" Ji Ying, who had just been talking big, instantly threw himself flat on the ground in a panic.

Heifu stood up straight, squinting to observe what was happening over there. He saw someone in the distance scrambling and crawling out of the thickets, fleeing madly toward the road. Moments later, several men in tattered clothes, armed with weapons and with vicious expressions, burst out and gave chase.

The direction of their flight and pursuit was exactly where Heifu and Ji Ying were standing!

"One, two, three, four…"

Ji Ying did a quick headcount and his heart began to waver: "Four bandits, and they're armed with sharp blades. We probably can't handle them. Heifu, let's just avoid them…"

No one answered. Ji Ying turned his head and was shocked to find that Heifu had already stood up and was striding forward in large steps!

"What are you doing!"

Ji Ying was horrified. He had intended to flee on his own, but then he remembered something. After hesitating for a long time, he gritted his teeth and followed, cursing as he chased after him: "Heifu, have you lost your mind!"

Heifu turned back and saw that Ji Ying had actually followed. He couldn't help but think more highly of him. He laughed: "This place is wide and flat. We can't hide, and we can't run far. Better to go help that man. Three against four — we might not lose. Besides, if we watch someone die and do nothing, and the authorities find out later, we'll both be punished."

In his previous life, he had been a man of strong principles; his friends said he had a chivalrous spirit. After entering the police academy, he had gained an even stronger sense of duty.

Now, living his second life, when faced with bandits blocking the road to rob and kill, Heifu still unhesitatingly chose to roar at injustice and strike when the moment called for it!

Besides, his elder brother Zhong had mentioned that in Qin, failing to save someone in mortal danger was punishable, while catching bandits was rewarded!

The opportunity he had been searching for was right before his eyes — what was there to hesitate about?

He strode forward, drew the short sword from his waist, and held it in a reverse grip in his right hand like a combat dagger. He let out the first long battle cry of his time in this era!

"Bandits! Heifu is here — don't even think about running wild!"

PS: "When a criminal kills or injures someone and charges through a thoroughfare, if a bystander does not assist, within a hundred paces it is treated as an open field, and he shall be fined two suits of armor." — "Legal Questions and Answers"

Also, to answer an earlier question: Wasn't adulthood in Qin determined by height? Answer: Yes, but "In the ninth month of the sixteenth year… for the first time, men were ordered to register their age." From that year on, whether a Qin person was an adult was determined by age.

The new book will temporarily have two chapters a day, at 9 AM and 5 PM. To be honest, I'm really fired up writing this book, but the difficulty of researching materials is several times that of the previous two, so my writing speed isn't fast. After all, I've just left the palace — let me steady myself first.

(End of Chapter)