Chapter 30: First

"It has always been the rule in the ranks that the old go in front and the young behind. Gongshi Heifu, you dared to swap the order at will — you've got some nerve!"

Centurion Bin was overbearing, his finger practically poking at Heifu's nose.

Faced with the accusation, Heifu did not panic. Instead, he immediately admitted fault to the County Right Commandant: "This lowly man truly did not know. I only heard Centurion Chen say it did not violate any law or military regulation, so I took it upon myself..."

Centurion Chen had just accepted the merit credit Heifu delivered, and at this moment it was awkward for him to wash his hands of the matter. He could only steel himself and say, "Reporting to the Right Commandant, Heifu did indeed ask me about this matter..."

Seeing the two "confess their crime," Centurion Bin grew even more smug, thinking that this way, the Gui Squad's first place in the grand competition was as good as ruined. He hastily said, "This Heifu has confessed. I hope the Right Commandant will impose punishment!"

His naive manner made Left Commandant Yun Man turn his face away in anger.

Right Commandant Du Xian merely stroked his beard, his gaze circling among Heifu, Centurion Chen, Centurion Bin, and Left Commandant Yun Man before he slowly spoke: "Heifu, do you know why, when our Qin state arrays troops for battle, we place the veteran soldiers in front and the new recruits behind?"

Heifu hurriedly lowered his head: "This lowly man is serving for the first time and has only a smattering of knowledge. I do not know the deeper meaning, and hope the Right Commandant will enlighten me." In truth, he had long since found out: old in front and young behind was custom, but not a legal statute. Since the law did not say it could not be done, then it could be done, couldn't it?

But as for the reason behind this custom, Heifu truly had not had the time to think it through carefully.

"Whenever two armies face off in formation, it is always the front ranks who meet the enemy first. If new recruits are placed in front, they are easily terrified by the killing aura of the battlefield and collapse backward, shattering the entire formation — and the battle is lost..." The Right Commandant spoke with earnest gravity.

"Veteran elite soldiers in front are different. They are well-versed in the ranks and files, understand military regulations, have been through battle formations, and can hold steady when they meet the foe. Even if every last one of them dies in bitter combat, the new recruits positioned behind them, having survived this one engagement, can then become veterans themselves and turn into the bedrock of the army in the next war. In this way, veterans will continue unbroken, and the art of battle formations can be passed down through a hundred years, generation after generation — and thus do we have Qin's ever-victorious, hundred-battle army!"

Right Commandant Du Xian was indeed a man trained in the Guanzhong heartland, who had experienced countless battles great and small. From the time of the former king, when as a common soldier he marched on the Eastern Zhou domain under the Marquis of Wenxin's orders, to the campaign just two years ago when Wang Jian breached Handan and destroyed Zhao — he had taken part in them all. As he slowly laid it out, Heifu instantly understood the deeper meaning of the Qin army placing veterans in front and recruits behind, and could not help but sweat with shame.

The Qin army, that tiger-and-wolf host, was not blessed by a single moment of fortune, but was built by generations passing the torch one to the next.

Looking at it this way, his own arbitrary reordering of the sequence for the sake of neat ranks during inspection had indeed been reckless. The ancients were no fools; from now on, he dared not be so arrogantly self-assured.

"Heifu knows his error. It is truly worthy of death!"

"Whether it is worthy of death is not for you yourself to decide, nor for any man to decide, but depends on what the laws and statutes say."

Right Commandant Du Xian turned his head to the side: "Clerk of the Commandant!"

"Yes!"

The Clerk of the Commandant at the side immediately answered. The Clerk was the subordinate officer of the County Commandant.

"Do the military laws state what crime it is for a squad leader to arbitrarily adjust the formation order?"

The Clerk hesitated a moment before saying: "I venture to report to the Right Commandant: veterans occupying the front and new recruits the rear, though it is Qin army custom, is not written into the laws and military statutes."

"It truly is not? You haven't simply forgotten, have you?"

The Clerk dropped to one knee: "This subordinate official absolutely dares not forget. If there is any omission, I am willing to accept the Qin law: 'One who dares to forget the name of any item in the laws and statutes which he is charged with enforcing shall be punished according to that very law whose name he forgot!'"

This was a uniquely ingenious provision in the *Qin Code*: any law officer or military judge who is charged with mastering the laws and statutes, yet dares to forget a provision — you shall be punished by the very law you forgot!

Good heavens, if one forgot the judgment for the death penalty or rebellion, wouldn't that be the end of you?

Therefore, every law officer and military judge's daily work consisted of reciting the laws and statutes until they were word-perfect, never daring to make a mistake, because their livelihood and very life depended on it.

County Right Commandant Du Xian nodded: "In that case, the laws and military statutes indeed contain no punishment for this. Heifu merely transgressed out of ignorance, and absolutely did not do so deliberately. Since there is no corresponding punishment in military law, I, as Commandant, have no grounds to punish him. In our Qin state, there has never been a precedent of punishing without first instructing! Heifu, just remember this lesson well from now on."

"This lowly man will certainly bear it firmly in mind!" Heifu knew this was the way out the Right Commandant was giving him, and he hurriedly took it.

"In that case, for today's drill, the Gui Squad is still first!"

The moment the Right Commandant spoke these words, Heifu let out a breath of relief. It seemed his gamble had paid off.

"Right Commandant! How can you be so indulgent!" Centurion Bin had never imagined it would end like this. He still wanted to argue, but was stopped by the Right Commandant.

Du Xian's face was solemn as he rebuked Centurion Bin: "Centurion Bin, do you think I, as Commandant, do not know why you obstruct at every turn? As a centurion, to wrangle with an ordinary rotational conscript over a personal grudge — what kind of conduct is that?"

"In the fourth month of last year, the Commandery Governor stated in his *Proclamation Letter*: a so-called wicked official is one who delights in stirring up trouble, knows no shame, lacks an impartial heart, and engages in offensive conduct, loving to contend and compete in the course of duty. When contending, he pretends to glare wide-eyed and grip his wrist to display his courage; he is arrogant and self-aggrandizing, brutish and stubborn, to show his competence — and his superiors even think him talented."

When he mentioned "superiors," the Right Commandant swept a glance at Left Commandant Yun Man, then pointed at Centurion Bin and said: "In my view, you are precisely what is called a wicked official. Such a person cannot go unpunished."

Centurion Bin stood dumbstruck, never having imagined such an outcome.

"Did you not earlier promise that if the Gui Squad took first place, you would circle this parade ground, doing three hundred distance leaps and three hundred crouching hops? Very well, a man's word is his deed. I, as Commandant, will help you fulfill it — and double the penalty! You will circle this parade ground and give me ten full circuits of distance leaps and crouching hops! As a warning to others!"

Having said this, Du Xian looked toward Left Commandant Yun Man and smiled: "Left Commandant, do you find this punishment of mine appropriate?"

His tone was amiable, but brooked no contradiction.

He appeared to be consulting, but acted with arbitrary finality.

In the Right Commandant's eyes, Centurion Bin's reckless interruption was clearly an affront by the Left Commandant's faction against his own authority as chief officer. How could he not kill the chicken to warn the monkey?

Although the Left Commandant ached for his son-in-law, they were indeed in the wrong on this matter. For the sake of the bigger picture ahead, he could only swallow his broken teeth along with the blood, and force a smile: "The Right Commandant is correct. It is time he learned a lasting lesson!"

Centurion Bin was dumb as a wooden chicken. Now that even his backer, the Left Commandant, had yielded, he could only clench his fists and forcibly suppress his rage.

He raised his head and shot a venomous look at the gloating Centurion Chen, and then at the wholly innocent-faced Heifu, before stumbling unsteadily down from the platform, preparing to remove his armor and begin jumping — only to hear the Right Commandant order:

"Jump in your armor!"

Centurion Bin swayed on his feet and looked toward the Left Commandant, but Yun Man only turned his face away darkly, giving him nothing but his back.

"Acknowledged!"

Centurion Bin had no choice but to grudgingly accept the order. And so, before the eyes of over a hundred county soldiers and over a hundred rotational conscripts, clad in his heavy armor, he began circling the vast parade ground in distance leaps and crouching hops — that is to say, deep-squat frog jumps...

*Clatter-clash. * Centurion Bin's armor clanged with every movement. The county soldiers and rotational conscripts watched this scene dumbstruck. At first they dared not speak, but the Right Commandant ordered them to count carefully, and only then did they begin counting the laps for Centurion Bin...

"One lap... two laps... three laps."

Centurion Bin jumped slower and slower, silently brooding in his heart that he would make Heifu repay this unprecedented humiliation double. The rotational conscripts, however, counted with growing gusto, their shouts growing louder and louder.

"Four laps, five laps, six laps!"

With every crouch, the armor chafed Centurion Bin's limbs raw; with every leap, he thought it would be his last...

But military orders are like mountains, and his oath still rang in his ears. He had no choice but to press on. Even if he had to crawl, he would crawl through these ten laps!

While Centurion Bin was jumping until his limbs went weak and he nearly fainted, Heifu was being announced by the County Right Commandant: in this ten-day grand competition, the Gui Squad under his command had taken the "top" — that is, first place.

He held a pot of awarded rice wine in his hands, ten strips of dried meat draped over his arm, and slowly descended the earthen platform. He happened to see Centurion Bin on his seventh lap, utterly exhausted, collapsed on the ground like an old dog, panting heavily, barely lifting his head to glare at him with bitter hatred.

"Heifu, you brat!" His eyes looked ready to burst and bleed.

"Centurion Bin, keep at it."

Heifu gave Centurion Bin a thumbs-up and an encouraging grin, which nearly made Centurion Bin cough up blood.

That day, when Centurion Bin had his county soldiers force Heifu down at his feet, humiliating and cursing him — could he ever have foreseen this day?

It is not that there is no retribution, only that the time had not yet come.

Heifu's vengeance for his humiliation had, with the aid of the County Right Commandant, been achieved today! At the same time, Heifu could not help but admire this County Right Commandant — his methods were truly incisive. Not only had he warned his opponents by rattling the mountain to startle the tiger and defended his own authority, he had also won the heart of this "stalwart" — killing two birds with one stone, beautifully played.

Paying no more heed to Platoon Leader Bin, who was still cursing unceasingly, Heifu returned to his own unit amid the cheers of Squad Gui. As promised, he distributed the dried meat among the squad, then raised the jar of rice wine high with both hands, as if it were a trophy he had won...

"Brother Heifu!"

Ji Ying was so moved his eyes brimmed with tears. Only he knew how difficult these days had been for Heifu, and how much he had given.

"We are first!" Dongmen Bao cheered, immersed in victory, with Xiao Tao grinning foolishly beside him.

"We're the best!" The tallest of them, Mu, wild with joy, lifted his cousin Zhi high into the air.

Ping, Ke, and Buke exchanged smiles. They knew that in the days ahead, they would have meat to eat and wine to drink.

Even the ever-steady Chao Bo was chuckling as he stroked his goatee, his hand trembling involuntarily. This was probably the most glorious moment he had experienced in over a dozen terms of corvée service.

A long while later, Heifu finally calmed the excited crowd. He squeezed out from the throng and headed toward Squad Jia.

As the replacement conscripts parted automatically, whether out of fear or admiration, Heifu strode straight through, seized Yuan Bai, who was about to slip away, and dragged him out!

"Squad Leader Yuan Bai."

Heifu looked at this rich man whose face was full of bitterness, pulled the contract from his bosom, and waved it before his eyes, revealing a genial smile. "Don't be in such a hurry to run off. Don't forget, you still owe me four thousand coins!"

(End of Chapter)