Chapter 36: Are You Willing to Serve as a Clerk?

"The County Right Commandant is looking for me?"

This was something Heifu hadn't expected. On the way to the official compound with Centurion Chen, he couldn't help turning it over in his mind.

"What could it be about? Could it be that…" A thought stirred in his heart, but he kept his face blank and ignorant, as if he knew nothing at all, and followed Centurion Chen into the Commandant's office.

The county-level government of Qin was broadly divided into three major sections: civil administration and economy, justice, and military and public security, overseen respectively by the County Magistrate, the County Deputy, and the County Commandant. Among them, the Magistrate was a senior official, while the Deputy and Commandant were junior officials, all of rank four hundred dan, each with their own separate office and administrative compound.

Heifu had been inside the County Deputy's compound and its county jail hall before. Now, visiting the County Commandant's office just one wall away, he found it similarly unadorned, with clerks hurrying to and fro. The difference was that the military atmosphere here was far heavier.

At the entrance, armored guards stood facing each other, utterly motionless. Passing straight through the second hall, the security grew progressively tighter; soldiers stood at attention holding spears, three paces a post, five paces a sentry, giving him the feeling of entering a military camp.

Thinking about it, that made sense. The County Commandant's duty was fundamentally to maintain public order and apprehend criminals. In wartime, or when border conscription levies were called, he would also lead all the able-bodied men of the county to the front lines — the equivalent of a later-era Public Security Bureau and People's Armed Forces Department rolled into one. With that in mind, Heifu actually felt a faint sense of familiarity here.

Before stepping into the main hall, Centurion Chen and Heifu were stopped by the Commandant's Clerk, who ordered them to remove their weapons, and then to take off their shoes before they were permitted to enter.

Centurion Chen went first, mincing forward in his cloth socks. Heifu, however, was in an awkward spot — because he didn't even own a pair of socks!

Heifu had no choice but to walk barefoot, stepping lightly on the cold wooden floor, yet it still produced creaking sounds. Fortunately, he had hurriedly bathed with cold water before coming, paying special attention to his feet, so there was no dirt or odor on them. Otherwise, it would have been even more embarrassing…

It was just past noon, and sunlight streamed through the window shutters into the hall. Heifu saw that on the left were bookshelves holding bamboo slips, and on the right stood a "lanqi" rack displaying five kinds of weapons — spear, halberd, bow, sword, and dagger-axe — lacquered in striking red.

In the very center of the hall, County Right Commandant Du Xian, dressed in casual attire with a bamboo-skin cap on his head, sat upright behind his desk, brush in hand, reviewing bamboo documents.

One shouldn't assume that military officers were all uncouth brutes. In Qin, aside from the Commandant's Clerk and the Jail Warden, the county's Patrol Officers, Pavilion Chiefs, and other minor officials responsible for local public security were all under the Commandant's command. Every month, the case files and criminal apprehension documents sent up from each township and pavilion could pile up on his desk. Without a bit of learning, how could he handle all these official duties?

Heifu also glimpsed, at the County Right Commandant's hand, not only his bronze official seal with its black ribbon, but also half of a tiger tally… This was the symbol of military authority.

"Reporting to the Right Commandant, the Gongshi Heifu has arrived…" Centurion Chen brought his hands together and bowed deeply until they touched the ground. Heifu had no choice but to imitate him and do the same.

"This humble man, Heifu, pays his respects to the County Commandant!"

Du Xian's brush did not stop. He raised his eyes to glance at Heifu and nodded. "You've come? Take a seat to the side. No need to stand on ceremony."

"Taking a seat" actually meant kneeling at the side of the hall. Although the cushion under his knees was quite soft, Heifu could only imitate Centurion Chen's posture, his buttocks lightly touching his heels, his upper body held straight. This was called "ji," a posture to show solemn respect toward someone of far higher status. He had heard Centurion Chen say that this Du Xian was not only the Right Commandant, but also held the sixth rank of nobility, Officer Grandee — one rank higher than Xi, whom Heifu had met before.

Du Xian never paused his work, so Heifu could only sit there, awkward yet polite. During this time, Centurion Chen even bent over and leaned close to Du Xian, his eyes on Heifu, saying something to him…

All Heifu could do was keep his eyes on his nose and his nose on his heart, secretly guessing at the intentions of the County Commandant and Centurion Chen. The methods of this Right Commandant Du Xian, as could be seen from the day he punished Centurion Bin and left Left Commandant Yun Man with nothing to say, showed he was not an easy man to deal with.

His guess was correct. From the moment Heifu entered, Du Xian had been secretly observing him.

He had heard from Centurion Chen that this Heifu, after receiving a large sum of coins, did not go on an eating and drinking spree, but instead gave it all to his elder brother to take home. To treat his family like that — this should be a man with a heart that remembers favors.

During those days of corvée labor, he had also been diligent and conscientious, without any out-of-line behavior. This man could keep his composure and had not let a moment of success go to his head.

Before coming to the official compound, he had also bathed hastily, washing away the dirt of his labor service. After entering the hall, he did not gawk around in panic like some country bumpkin. Instead, he studied Centurion Chen and meticulously performed the etiquette. This showed he was a clever man who understood hierarchy and respect…

Du Xian had always believed that, unlike the Left Commandant who practiced cronyism, he judged people not only by their ability but also by their fundamental nature. Only such a person was worth cultivating.

And so Du Xian finally set down the bamboo slips in his hand and asked, "Gongshi Heifu, I have long heard that your martial skill is exceptional, that you can fight three men at once. This Commandant asks you: do you know how to use the Five Weapons?"

Behind Heifu was the "lanqi" rack. The so-called Five Weapons were the five most common weapons of this era displayed upon it: spear, halberd, bow, sword, and dagger-axe.

Heifu answered truthfully, "Heifu is serving for the first time and has not yet had the chance to handle military weapons. Therefore, I only know how to use the sword, and I can draw a hunter's bow, but my aim is not accurate."

"Knowing the sword is enough. The sword is the foremost of short weapons, a gentleman's fine instrument."

Du Xian smiled, then asked, "I also hear you can read and write? Where did you learn?"

"When I was young, my family circumstances were still acceptable. I learned together with my elder brother from an old man in the hamlet."

"How many characters can you recognize? How many can you write?"

"I generally recognize the characters used in official documents and legal statutes, but I can only write three or four hundred."

Heifu answered each question. After questioning him for a while, Du Xian got straight to the point. "This Commandant does not like to beat around the bush. The reason I summoned you today is to ask: are you willing to serve as a clerk?"

Without a moment's hesitation, Heifu immediately responded, "I am willing!"

After more than a month of firsthand experience, he had finally understood that in Qin, aside from soldiers and officers who had earned merit, those with the highest social status were the Qin clerks, great and small.

As a Qin clerk, not only would one directly become a low-ranking officer upon joining the army, but in ordinary times one could also accumulate service records for promotion, and the opportunities to earn merit and be awarded noble rank were also greater. This was why he had been constantly thinking about it, always wanting to squeeze his way into the ranks of Qin's civil servants.

Heifu bowed deeply. "This humble man could not ask for more! It is only that my birth is lowly, and I was unable to enter the study hall to learn the laws and statutes. I have no path to become a clerk!"

As far as Heifu knew, although Qin did not have a civil service examination system, there were actually quite a few paths to enter officialdom. Besides earning noble rank through battlefield merit, there were also methods like "guaranteed appointment" and "recommendation by selection." But the former was the exclusive privilege of second-generation officials like Meng Tian, Wang Li, and Li You. The latter was equivalent to the Han dynasty's "Filial and Incorrupt" recommendation system, which required one to have family background, reputation, and wealth in the local area before being recommended by fellow villagers.

The more common path was to enter a study hall, learn the laws and statutes from legalist officials, and after passing the assessment, naturally step into an official career — the equivalent of a later-era cadre training course. But enrollment had a rigid requirement: one had to be a "clerk's son," meaning the child of an official or clerk.

For someone of Heifu's impoverished background, none of the above paths were viable. He had secretly hoped that an official might recommend him, or that he might be recruited by the government for doing something exceptionally outstanding, but such opportunities were rare and could not be sought by force.

Who would have thought that today, the County Right Commandant would suddenly ask him such a question out of the blue? Could it be that he was finally about to stand out from the crowd?

"No path? Hah, I see it differently."

At that moment, Centurion Chen, as Du Xian's trusted aide, tactfully picked up the thread. "Right now, there is just such an opportunity. Heifu, do you still remember the Huyang Pavilion Chief?"

"Of course I remember."

How could Heifu forget him? If not for that scoundrel, this past month or so in the county town should have been quite peaceful.

Centurion Chen said, "Last month, because of his lawsuit with you, he was sentenced to penal labor as a 'Firewood Gatherer.' After that, the post of Huyang Pavilion Chief became vacant. The county has no suitable official to succeed him, and no one locally has recommended a candidate…"

He paused, glanced at Du Xian, and only after receiving a nod of approval did he continue:

"At that point, the Right Commandant immediately thought of you! He also informed the County Magistrate of how you captured a criminal and were awarded noble rank, and how you won first place in the ten-day military drill. The Magistrate has ordered the Chief Clerk to make an exception and recruit you. If you can pass the official assessment, you may be appointed on probation as the Huyang Pavilion Chief! Heifu, with such a heaven-sent opportunity laid before you, why do you not hurry and bow in thanks to the Right Commandant!"

(End of chapter)