Chapter 312: Bearing the Jade Tablet

The envoy sent by King Zheng of Qin was named Yang Jiu—a scion of the Yang clan of Shan County in Sanchuan Commandery, and a paternal cousin of Yang Xiong, who had once been Heifu's superior.

Yang Jiu now served as a Court Gentleman at Xianyang. Though nominally just a personal guard of the Qin King, in practice Court Gentlemen could attend upon the sovereign, take part in counsel, bear arms as palace guards, and also be dispatched as envoys, wielding considerable authority. Traveling to the four quarters to proclaim the King's edicts was a routine assignment for Court Gentlemen.

Yang Jiu had come to Nanchang precisely to bestow rewards on the southern expedition's officers and soldiers on the King's behalf.

"Detached Colonel Heifu campaigned south for ten months, exterminated the remnant brigands of Jing-Chu, and subdued the Gan-Yue and Yang-Yue tribes, causing them to offer up local tribute. The pelts of the Gan Giant, alligator-skin drums, Gan-Yue treasure swords, and other items they presented as tribute in summer have already been delivered to Xianyang and entered the royal treasury."

"The King declares: Though Yuzhang's registered households are few, if in future days commoners are resettled and the black-headed folk multiply, it may yet become a full commandery, with Nanchang as its seat. Such merit—expanding the realm by a thousand li—cannot go unrewarded. By statute, Fifth Grand Master Heifu shall be enfeoffed as Chief of the Multitude on the Left…"

"Your humble servant prostrates himself in gratitude to the Great King!"

On hearing this, Heifu immediately faced northwest, bowed his head to the ground in distant obeisance, and performed the gestures of joyful trepidation with full conviction.

Yang Jiu observed this and nodded inwardly, but said aloud: "Chief of the Multitude on the Left, do not be hasty. The Great King has further authorized this minor official to grant you the right to bear the jade tablet at court."

With that, Yang Jiu smiled and placed the silk document and the bestowed ink-jade tablet—three fingers wide and one chi long—into Heifu's hands. Heifu received it, feeling its icy coolness against his skin, and saw that the tablet was inscribed with three Qin-seal characters: "Chief of the Multitude on the Left."

As Yang Jiu read aloud the Qin King's decree, the assembled men bowed with hands clasped. Heifu, as the local commanding general, stood at the very front; Zhang Han, as Supervisor of Works for Jiujiang Commandery, stood behind him in the second position. He took in the entire scene, a trace of envy in his heart.

"Heifu, oh Heifu—you began as a mere black-headed commoner, and it has been no more than five years. To break through the ceiling of the commoner ranks and be ranked Fifth Grand Master was already exceedingly rare. Now you have left the Grand Masters behind and vaulted into the ministerial tier. A man like this has truly been unheard of since Lord Shang's reforms…"

The ranks from Grand Master all the way up to Fifth Grand Master were considered middle-tier ranks matching the "Grand Masters" of the Spring and Autumn period, but Chief of the Multitude on the Left was different.

As the tenth-order rank, Chief of the Multitude on the Left had once been the title of one of Qin's four ruling ministers in the Spring and Autumn era—able to command troops on horseback and govern the people on foot. After Shang Yang entered Qin, he himself had held the post of Chief of the Multitude on the Left and presided over the reforms. After his reforms, the title was hollowed out into a military-merit rank, no longer carrying substantive official power.

Yet Chief of the Multitude on the Left remained the lowest rank within the "ministerial" tier, difficult to attain without great merit. Back then, Li You had only been elevated to Chief of the Multitude on the Left because seven of his fellow commandants had been defeated and killed as foils, and because he had broken through an encirclement in a desperate counterattack, fighting across three hundred li and greatly exalting Qin's prestige—the Qin King had made an example of him.

And Heifu's ten months of toil on campaign and his merit in expanding the realm by a thousand li were indeed weighty enough. If the Qin King could gain ten thousand li of territory just by tossing out ten Chief of the Multitude on the Left titles, wouldn't that be an enormous bargain?

Heifu had insisted on taking this Jiangxi route and leading troops independently precisely because he had seen this point. Had he continued following behind Li You to attack Changsha and descend on Cangwu, he likely would not have reaped such rich rewards.

The vast gulf between Chief of the Multitude on the Left and Fifth Grand Master can be seen in the amounts of land and homesteads each rank enjoyed. A Fifth Grand Master received twenty-five qing of fields, a twenty-five-unit residential plot, and could keep twenty-five retainers.

Upon reaching Chief of the Multitude on the Left, it leaped to seventy-four qing of fields, a seventy-four-unit residential plot, and seventy-four retainers!

This meant Heifu's landed property had instantly tripled!

And that was not all—Chief of the Multitude on the Left also gained the right to bear the jade tablet at court! Though it might seem a mere thin slip of jade, ever since the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods, bearing the tablet had been a privilege reserved for ministers.

The rank of Chief of the Multitude on the Left and the jade tablet already counted as "title and regalia." That the Qin King sent Yang Jiu to bestow rank and tablet upon Heifu showed plainly how much importance he attached to this young man not yet twenty-three.

"This degree of trust and favor is nearly catching up to what Li Xin received ten years ago, or what Meng Tian and Meng Yi received five years ago."

Zhang Han mused to himself. The present King was indeed a forceful sovereign who liked to elevate young men, because he prized their daring, pioneering drive. It was only a pity that Li Xin and Meng Tian had once stumbled in Chu, and now the King's heart was not what it had been.

He was a perceptive man, so he privately speculated that the Qin King probably wanted to hold up Heifu—who had climbed step by step from black-headed commoner to Chief of the Multitude on the Left—as a model to publicize, so that talents from the ranks would burn all the more eagerly to win merit in battle.

Even Zhang Han, never mind anyone else, felt his eyes grow hot with envy just watching.

But then—the five states had already been destroyed, and the wars worth fighting were all fought. Where else could one campaign and win merit?

So he thought in his heart, yet with his lips he offered Heifu unceasing congratulations: "In the thirteenth year of the late King Zhao, Bai Qi became Chief of the Multitude on the Left and led troops to strike Xincheng in Han. The position Heifu now holds is one that Lord Wu'an once occupied. Your ambition to become a general and be enfeoffed as a marquis—you have taken the first step!"

Yes—Heifu felt a surge of emotion in his own heart. A year of hardship, thousands of li of rushing to and fro, had bought a rank of no small weight. Yet it was still only the last seat among the "lower ministers." The road he had to walk was still long.

Yang Jiu's bestowal of ranks was not yet finished. Virtually every officer in Heifu's army, including Zhang Han, received rewards.

For his service in the Chu campaign as Army Supervisor of Works—building ramparts, paving roads and bridging rivers for Li You's forces, and constructing Nanchang after the war—Zhang Han was at last promoted from his previous rank of Grand Master of the Public to Fifth Grand Master.

The Tower-Ship Commander of Five Hundred, Zhao Tuo, for breaking the siege of Pengze and killing the Lord of Poyang, was promoted from Grand Master to Official Grand Master.

The acting Lieutenant of Poyang, Li Xian, who had several times served as chief strategist and won merit with his counsel, was promoted to Official Grand Master.

Because relatively few battles had occurred after entering Jiangxi territory, Dongmen Bao had no great achievements to his name, and his rank remained Official Grand Master. He had now been assigned by Heifu to garrison Luling.

Among the rest, Xiao Tao, stationed at Shanggan and Limen Fort, was promoted to Official Grand Master; Gong Ao became Grand Master; Ji Ying became Grand Master; Man and Anpu both became Grand Master.

Interestingly, Wu Shen of Yugan, because he had been sufficiently astute to judge the hour and voluntarily surrendered, offered up the Gan-Yue sword in tribute, and sent men to help Heifu build Nanchang, was also enfeoffed as Grand Master.

Beyond the officers, what came as a delightful surprise was that among the rank-and-file soldiers, virtually everyone below the rank of Bugeng received a reward, generally advancing one rank in the peerage. This they had not expected at all, for since entering Jiangxi they had fought few major battles and the men's head counts were not high. They had not imagined the Qin King would be so generous—perhaps he wanted to give them a taste of "all under heaven drinking in celebration"?

Everyone was rejoicing and celebrating with abandon; only Heifu had a vague sense that the matter was probably not so simple. This time, the Qin King's largesse was somewhat excessive. His three thousand men, at an average increase of one hundred mu of land per man, would require three hundred thousand mu of land—a third of Nan Commandery's public fields would simply vanish.

Sure enough, after the officers and soldiers had finished their jubilation, Yang Jiu tossed them another piece of news.

"The fields due to the three thousand officers and soldiers of the southern expedition for their newly gained ranks shall all be allocated locally from the lands of Jiangnan. Those now stationed at Nanchang shall open up the lands of Nanchang; those stationed at Poyang shall open up the lands of Poyang; those stationed at Shanggan shall open up the lands of Shanggan…"

…

The moment these words were spoken, Heifu and Zhang Han exchanged a glance. Strengthen the walls, deepen the moats, measure the acres, levy the tithes—what the Qin King wanted the soldiers to do had been guessed by Zhang Han exactly.

For a moment, the two thousand soldiers below fell silent. They looked at one another, not understanding what this meant.

It was Gong Ao who grasped it first and shouted: "Does this mean we cannot return home—that we must stay in this place and farm?"

The men froze, then one after another it dawned on them. If so, then were they not to be forcibly relocated to Nanchang, just like the bonded sons-in-law, convict laborers, and government slaves who had arrived here only a few days before?

They had toiled ten bitter months, gazing at the stars and moon in hope of returning to their native villages. On suddenly hearing this, they could not help but erupt in an uproar!

"After all our thousand hardships, we get these swampy wastelands here?"

"Jiangnan is prone to pestilence—men die young there!"

"The Great King would never treat us so."

"It must be some treacherous minister whispering slander behind this!"

They even turned furious glares upon Yang Jiu. This pale-faced young Court Gentleman—could he be falsely proclaiming the Great King's decree?

A sense of grievance and discontent fermented among the soldiers. They could not keep calm. When Gong Ao, enraged, hurled away his helmet and bellowed that he would rather forfeit the land, cast off his rank and official robes, and return to his homeland stark naked—it reached its peak…

Yang Jiu's face grew even paler. He was barely past twenty; though of eminent birth, he had never witnessed such a scene. He had prepared himself for some grumbling from the troops, but events unfolded so fast that for a moment he was at a loss, his steps unsteady, already on the verge of being driven back by the soldiers' furious stares.

Fortunately, at that moment, a strong hand clapped him on the back, and at his side a fierce shout rang out.

"Insolence!"

The Detached Colonel had spoken. The thousand-odd soldiers, seething moments before like a boiling cauldron, were instantly silenced as if cicadas in winter.

Heifu's face showed anger. His gaze swept across them, and everyone—including the unruly Gong Ao—lowered their heads in awe, not daring to meet his eyes.

"Military law says: Those who deserve punishment yet plead for none shall die! Those who deserve reward yet plead for none shall die!"

"Gentlemen, do not clamor—guard your tongues! If any of you have objections, this Colonel…"

Heifu raised his voice: "This Chief of the Multitude now has the right to submit direct memorials. I will seek a clear answer on your behalf from the Great King, from Xianyang! But for now, I ask you, gentlemen, to first bow in thanks for the Great King's rewards, and in obedience to the royal command, open up the land and divide the fields! Strengthen the walls, deepen the moats, measure the acres, levy the tithes!"

The men looked at one another. In the end, it was Gong Ao—the very one who had just been the first to shout his discontent—who nodded to Heifu's old subordinates, gritted his teeth, prostrated himself, and declared in a loud voice: "Your humble servant Gong Ao prostrates himself in gratitude for the Great King's reward!"

"Your servants bow in thanks for the Great King's reward!" The chorus of thanks was ragged, but it at last clapped a lid onto the nearly boiling cauldron.

Zhang Han glanced at Heifu, secretly marveling. Had he been the one facing that situation just now, he would have struggled to bring it under control. It seemed Heifu's prestige among his hometown soldiers was exceedingly high.

Once the crowd had quieted down again, Heifu turned to the sweat-drenched Yang Jiu, cupped his hands, and said with solemn gravity:

"A general is the spearhead of his troops. The Great King's decree should begin with me, Heifu. I have been promoted from Fifth Grand Master to Left Chief of the Masses, and forty-nine qing of my land allotment lies in Nanchang. Of all the land to be opened up, let the soldiers choose first. The forty-nine qing of the worst land that remains—please leave it for me!"

(End of chapter)