Chapter 327: Li Si

On the first day of the third month of the twenty-sixth year of the First Emperor, at sunrise (between 5 and 7 a. m.), as the sky was just beginning to brighten but had not yet fully lightened, Li Si, the graying, white-bearded Commandant of Justice, stood below the main hall of Zhangtai Palace, wearing his xiezhi cap, and lifted his head to look upward.

To the left of the hall was a ramp, allowing the emperor to ascend by carriage; to the right were three hundred and sixty steps, provided for ministers to climb on foot. Upon the plinth stones rose tall wooden pillars, the ground was paved with dressed stone slabs, and the walls were girded with gleaming golden bands interspersed with rare jade — the magnificence of its architecture was unmatched by any other palace...

The palace, lit with ornate lanterns, blazed as bright as the noonday sun. Ceramic hornless dragons coiled and spiraled along the eaves, suspended several zhang above the ground, and sculptures of dark birds, poised to spread their wings and take flight, gave voice to the empire's first cry.

"The more I look up, the higher it seems; the deeper I probe, the harder it becomes" — this was how Zhongni's disciples felt about Kong Qiu. For Li Si, no matter how many times he gazed up at this pinnacle of power, the feeling was always the same.

Looking back, the first time he came here was twenty years ago. By then, he had already left Shangcai and entered Xianyang for several years. He first became a retainer of Lü Buwei, assisting him in compiling the Lüshi Chunqiu, which brought his talents to light. He was subsequently appointed by Lü Buwei as a court gentleman, which allowed him to enter Zhangtai Palace and meet His Majesty for the first time.

From that very first meeting, Li Si understood clearly: although Lü Buwei's power dominated Qin, he would inevitably wither and die before long. It was instead the young King Zheng of Qin, barely past his capping ceremony, who would rise like the morning sun...

Thus, he began early to distance himself from Lü Buwei. After the King of Qin took personal rule, he swiftly switched allegiance, exerted his talents to the utmost, rigorously upheld laws and decrees, coerced Han and weakened Wei, destroyed Yan and Zhao, razed Qi and Chu, and ultimately annexed the six kingdoms, capturing their kings. The King of Qin thus became Son of Heaven and was titled Emperor.

In this process, Li Si believed his own contributions were far from small, and he received the Emperor's rewards. His official post rose from court gentleman to guest minister, then to Commandant of Justice. His noble rank was elevated to the seventeenth grade, Four-Horse Chariot Commoner Chief. His eldest son, Li You, married a Qin princess, and his middle son had a similar opportunity.

Among those the Emperor trusted most heavily, none surpassed Li Si!

By now, he was long past being a rat in a privy; he was a powerful minister whom everyone envied.

But a person's climb toward the pinnacle of power is never satisfied.

Today was the first grand court assembly since His Majesty assumed the imperial title. The Three Excellencies and Nine Ministers all gathered. Rows of chariots bearing torches streamed out from every part of Xianyang, converging on Zhangtai Street, and proceeded in a grand procession toward Dragon Head Gate. Once inside, the ministers' chariots and horses halted, and they proceeded on foot, holding jade tablets in hand.

Only four chariots received special permission to drive straight in and arrive directly below the great hall.

These four chariots belonged respectively to the Right Chancellor Kui Zhuang, the Left Chancellor Wang Wan, the Imperial Secretary Feng Quji, and the Commandant of Justice Li Si.

After the four high ministers alighted from their chariots, they exchanged a few polite demurrals, then automatically arranged themselves by official rank and settled the order for ascending the steps.

Regrettably, although Li Si was the Emperor's closest minister, he could only rank last among the four.

Thus, from Li Si's perspective, the three figures ahead of him stood between him and the pinnacle of power.

"The Right Chancellor Kui Zhuang is old and decrepit, losing control of his bowels at every meal. His days are numbered; he is not worth worrying about."

"The Imperial Secretary Feng Quji is newly appointed to this post, his ambition not yet strong, and he has rendered no great service to the state. He cannot possibly be promoted again within a few years; he too is not worth worrying about."

Holding his white jade tablet and ascending the steps, Li Si automatically ignored Kui Zhuang, who was already struggling to walk, and Feng Quji, who was on good terms with him and of little ambition. He then fixed his gaze on the second man.

Wang Wan, nominally the Left Chancellor, in reality held all the power. Any clear-eyed person knew that Kui Zhuang would certainly resign before long, and Wang Wan would take that position, second only to one man and above all others. Moreover, he was originally a man from the eastern kingdoms and had once spent time in Jixia. Recently, he had been associating closely with the seventy Erudites and had recommended many Yin-Yang School adherents to Qin. They promoted the theory of the Five Virtues' cyclical succession, arguing that the Zhou dynasty was of the Fire Virtue, and that Qin replacing Zhou was a case of Water overcoming Fire.

They thus persuaded the Emperor to establish Qin as the beginning of the Water Virtue, and implemented measures such as renaming the Great River to "Virtue River." Today's court assembly would first announce this matter.

Wang Wan believed he had rendered a great service and was immensely pleased with himself, walking with his head high and chest puffed out.

Regarding this matter, and the earlier discussion of the imperial title, Li Si raised no objections, deferring to Wang Wan in everything and presenting the appearance of honoring him as his superior...

So there was talk at court that the young court gentleman Heifu and the Prefect of the Central Chariots Zhao Gao had memorials that captured the Emperor's intent, while the Emperor's closest minister, Li Si, had misjudged the situation this time...

"Misjudged?"

Li Si sneered inwardly. In twenty years, he had never once misjudged anything!

He had discerned the Emperor's grand ambition to unify all under heaven, and thus advised King Zheng of Qin to secretly deploy strategists, furnish them with gold and jade, and send them to persuade the feudal lords, so that each could be defeated in turn. He also took the post of Chief Clerk and personally directed this undertaking.

He had discerned that although the Emperor, under pressure from the royal clan and the old Qin people of Guanzhong, issued the expulsion order against foreign advisors, he was in truth unwilling to expel them. So he submitted the "Petition Against the Expulsion of Guest Officials," a work of supreme literary brilliance, flowing for thousands of words, which greatly delighted the King of Qin. After circulating it among the ministers, it reversed the situation in a single stroke.

The matter of deliberating the honorific title held great profit for Heifu and Zhao Gao, but for Li Si, it was merely a petty gain.

He therefore deliberately deferred to Wang Wan, proposing the title "Tai Huang," giving the Left Chancellor full face, and letting Wang Wan believe that he was content to rank beneath him and would also voice agreement with Wang Wan's subsequent proposals.

He knew that Wang Wan, egged on by that group of Erudites and Confucian scholars, would today put forward a bold proposal...

"The victory between you and me, the official career of the next ten years, and the great Qin's state policy for ten thousand generations — all will be decided at today's court assembly!"

With this thought, Li Si quickened his pace. But just then, the Right Chancellor Kui Zhuang, walking ahead with the aid of a pigeon staff, had climbed the three hundred and sixty steps and was about to reach the top when his foot missed and he nearly fell!

If this old chancellor were to fall and tumble down from here, his aged life would likely be forfeit in an instant!

Fortunately, in the nick of time, a dark-faced court gentleman who had been watching the old minister on the steps rushed up a few paces and steadied Kui Zhuang.

"Right Chancellor, mind your step!"

The court gentleman supported Kui Zhuang as they walked steadily to the top, in front of the hall, and had his subordinates look after him. He then cupped his hands and bowed to the three men coming up in succession: "This humble official greets the Left Chancellor, the Imperial Secretary... and the Commandant of Justice!"

Wang Wan sized up this court gentleman, whose speech carried a slight Nan Commandery accent. Judging by his attire and the seal and cord at his waist, he must be one of the three commanders of the palace gentlemen — the Commander of the Gentlemen of the Household, of the Chariots, or of the Cavalry.

Court gentlemen were mostly sons of the Guanzhong nobility. Because they did not engage in productive labor and were northerners, their complexions were generally fair. This man before him, however, had a dark face, and was likely none other than "Heifu," who had recently gained the Emperor's favor by deliberating the imperial title...

They were men of high rank and weighty authority, and would not deign to exchange many words with a minor Commander of the Gentlemen of the Household. They nodded and, along with Kui Zhuang, who had nearly made a fool of himself, entered the hall one after another.

Only Li Si paused as he passed Heifu.

Heifu still maintained his bowing posture, extremely respectful.

Li Si turned his head back, looking down at the three hundred and sixty stone steps below, and further out at the palace gates, the streets and alleys, the Wei River, and Xianyang. It was unclear whether he was speaking to himself or to Heifu.

"This old man has gone up and down Zhangtai Hall countless times, and so I know well: those who climb to this position and can still clearly see the path they came by are few indeed."

Li Si glanced at Heifu again and said flatly, "You... have done rather well."

The words he used were not the Guanzhong dialect, but the Shangcai dialect.

"Yes. Heifu thanks the Commandant of Justice for his instruction..." Heifu replied, also in the Nan Commandery dialect.

No superfluous words, no gestures of intimacy. Both were clever men; everything was understood without being spoken.

Li Si then strode into the hall. Their brief contact was utterly ordinary, and their words were heard by no one. Neither Heifu's subordinates on duty outside the hall, nor the protocol officials receiving the ministers inside, nor the imperial secretaries scrutinizing everyone's ritual propriety, took any notice.

Only below the steps, Zhao Gao, the Prefect of the Central Chariots, who was likewise gazing up at the pinnacle of power, watched this scene with shadowed eyes, watched Li Si's brief pause beside Heifu, and revealed a smile of unfathomable meaning...

(End of Chapter)