Chapter 388: Newly Arrived

"Madam, this place is truly shabby and run-down — it doesn't even compare to our residence in Nan Commandery."

On the first night after arriving in Yiqu City, Yuan, already dressed in the attire of a housekeeper and matron, dusted herself off, paid her respects to Ye Zijin, and began her complaints.

Yuan was the abducted woman Heifu had rescued from Blind Mountain many years ago. After Heifu became the County Commandant of Anlu, she and her father came to the household to help — her father raised horses and cattle for the Heifu family, while Yuan and her mute husband assisted in the kitchen.

After Heifu settled his household in Xianyang, the couple followed as well, having mastered many recipes Heifu had privately taught them, greatly enriching the food on the family's dining table.

When Heifu took up his post as Commandant of Beidi Commandery, having grown accustomed to the couple's cooking, he naturally brought them along.

In Yuan's memory, many years ago, after being rescued from Blind Mountain, she had accompanied her father to Heifu's old residence in Zhaoyang Hamlet, Yunmeng Township to offer thanks — it was just an ordinary five-mu household. After Heifu became County Commandant, they moved into a small manor near the county seat. When Heifu served as an official in Xianyang, His Majesty even bestowed a grand mansion, located on the most prosperous northern bank of Wei Bridge, imposing and magnificent. Every time she and her husband entered or left, they could feel the envy of onlookers and felt their faces glow with pride.

Now that Heifu had been promoted again, becoming a high official governing a frontier region, she had assumed their residence would be even more spacious and dignified. Who could have guessed it would be merely an old, dilapidated compound of only thirty mu, situated behind the commandery offices...

She and the other servants who had come along were somewhat disappointed, even suspecting that the local Commandery Governor had done this deliberately!

Ye Zijin, however, set her face sternly and said, "Although Yiqu City is the commandery seat, its population and size are only comparable to Anlu County town — where would any grand mansions come from? Don't think this residence is small; it is already second only to the Commandery Governor's mansion. The previous Commandant lived here. None of you shall complain further!"

Yuan and the others stammered their assent. They were rather afraid of this madam, having long been brought to heel by her.

At that moment, Ye Zijin walked to the door of the main chamber, reached up, and lightly wiped the top of the window frame — no dust. Looking again, she saw the floor was swept clean and the rooms were tidied in good order, indicating that although the servants had complaints, they had still honestly completed their work.

Thus, she did not make things too difficult for them, only recalling a saying Heifu often repeated:

"It is easy to go from frugality to luxury, but hard to go from luxury to frugality!"

Having lived in the capital for over a year, these servants, originally from small rural places, had picked up some bad habits. This time, accompanying Heifu to Beidi Commandery was a perfect chance for them to experience life on the frontier and cure the ailments they had been spoiled into acquiring in Xianyang City!

She began her first inspection of the residence. A wife oversees internal affairs — all of this had to be taken to heart.

After making a full round, she had a clear picture in mind. She then instructed Yuan and the other servants to go to the market the next day to inquire about the prices of various meats and vegetables, and to arrange for one cart to go purchasing daily. Times were different now, with dozens of people to feed and clothe every day. However, compared to her father's household in Nan Commandery, which at its peak supported over a hundred people, this was still a trifling matter, and handling it posed no difficulty for Lady Ye.

"We only need to recruit a few locals of clean background to serve as interpreters — preferably Qin women idling at home."

Heifu's family members were mostly from Nan Commandery. Arriving in Beidi, hearing the local dialect mixed with Rong tribal vocabulary, they could only stare at each other in bewilderment, understanding nothing at all.

Finally, she also inquired whether the guest accommodations had been properly arranged, especially for Chen Ping's family, who were to be given special attention.

Ye Zijin had the servants settle Chen Ping's wife and child in a separate small courtyard, with clothing and food identical to the master's, and provided a carriage and horses. She also instructed the physician to pay particular attention to the health of Chen Ping's infant son — not yet one year old, he had followed his parents to the bitterly cold Beidi, which she feared might be unsuitable.

"I must also invite a gynecologist and a pediatrician from Xianyang..."

Ye Zijin looked down at her own belly. Over the past year, she and her husband had been together less and apart more; now they were finally reunited. The couple was no longer young, and she resolved that during their time in Yiqu City, she would surely bear him a son or daughter...

After all arrangements were properly made, night had fallen, and Heifu returned reeking of alcohol. Once Sang Mu helped him down from the carriage, he found his wife already waiting inside the gate to greet him, and said with a smile:

"Madam, you returned even earlier than I did."

Heifu had been attending the welcoming banquet arranged for him by the three officials: Zhao Hai, Governor of Beidi Commandery; Yin Tong, the Commandery Assistant; and Yan Cheng, the Supervisory Censor.

If one were to say that the Commandery Governor is equivalent to a provincial party secretary, the Commandant to the provincial military district commander overseeing public security, and the Commandery Assistant to the secretary of the political and legal affairs commission, then the Supervisory Censor would be equivalent to the secretary of the discipline inspection commission — supervising officials and identifying and recommending local talent.

The Governor, Commandant, Assistant, and Censor formed the four-horse team pulling the commandery chariot. These three men were Heifu's important colleagues. Just as one cannot go to Handong Province without building good relations with secretaries like Sha Ruijin, Gao Yuliang, and Tian Guofu, Heifu too had to treat them with courtesy.

The toasting and exchanging of cups at the banquet was unavoidable. Their wives, at the invitation of the Governor's wife, had also gone to the Governor's mansion for a feast. Heifu had not expected it to end so early.

Knowing Heifu's habits, Lady Ye had ordered hot water prepared for him to soak his feet. As she reached into the wooden tub to personally test the water temperature for her husband, she said:

"We were all women — we neither drank nor discussed government affairs, merely chatted while dining, so it did not take very long."

She then began recounting some matters from the banquet hosted by the Governor's wife that day.

"I gave each of the three madams a gift, all containing brown sugar and crisp cakes. The Governor's wife's portion was somewhat more generous, while the other two received the same amount. However, within the three gifts, there was one additional item, each different..."

"Oh?"

Heifu asked with keen interest, "What did you add to each?"

Ye Zijin said, "In the Governor's wife's gift, it was several rolls of the finest mulberry-bark paper."

Heifu laughed. "Governor Zhao Hai is an old minister from the time of King Zhuangxiang. Although his achievements are few, his seniority is more than sufficient — he is already a Grand Superior. I hear he started as a petty clerk and writes an excellent hand. Just now, he used the matter of papermaking as a pretext to toast me two cups of wine!"

As he spoke, Heifu let out a loud, alcoholic belch. Somewhat embarrassed, he scratched his face and said, "The three senior officials are all elders, but the various Beidi officials who accompanied us at the table are formidable drinkers — one after another, they came up to offer toasts..."

"I know. In the custom of the Rong lands, a man who cannot hold his liquor is no man at all."

Amused, Ye Zijin mixed a bowl of honey water for Heifu to sober up, then sat down beside him and continued talking about the gifts for the senior officials' wives. She had inquired about their backgrounds in advance and catered to their preferences; the items were not expensive, so even if someone deliberately reported it, it would not constitute bribery.

Delighted, they in turn treated Ye Zijin with great warmth, each giving gifts in return and inviting her to taste a Beidi specialty: roast lamb.

Through the course of conversation, she also discovered that the three madams had quite different personalities. The Governor's wife came from an aristocratic background and treated others with courtesy and grace, though she was advanced in years and grew drowsy as soon as night fell.

The Supervisory Censor's wife, on the other hand, was a habitual complainer. As it happened, she was also from Han, so from the moment Ye Zijin took her seat, she treated her with particular warmth, and even began to "pity" her, saying that she had come to this desolate northern frontier in the prime of her youth. She then launched into complaints about life in Beidi: how cold the winters were here, how terrible the food was, how coarse the common people were, sharing the customs of the Rong and Di barbarians — she wished she could leave this place immediately...

"The Commandery Assistant Yin Tong's wife was different. She is the daughter of a wealthy merchant from Shandong, dressed in magnificent attire, fond of conversation, and the center of attention at the banquet. She recounted all sorts of rumors and legends about Beidi Commandery with vivid detail, and she even boasted —"

Ye Zijin looked at her husband. "She boasted that Yin Tong would be transferred away next year, transferred to the south!"

"When she said this, there was a clear note of flaunting. I secretly glanced at the others and noticed that the Governor's wife's expression remained unchanged, her smile faint, but the Supervisory Censor's wife showed a trace of jealousy..."

Although it was only a fleeting moment, Ye Zijin still caught it.

"Are you suggesting that there may be some grudge between Supervisory Censor Yan Cheng and Commandery Assistant Yin Tong?"

The Qin dynasty emphasized rising from the grassroots — even the sons of powerful families had to go through the lower ranks. Thus, anyone who could rise to a senior commandery post was a seasoned veteran of officialdom. Even if there were real conflicts, they would not show them in public; everyone was all harmony and goodwill.

After the banquet, Supervisory Censor Yan Cheng had even pulled Heifu aside, rambling on about how "the senior officials of Beidi all come from other regions and must work together with one heart to stand against the powerful native Rong aristocratic families."

Thus, information Heifu could not obtain from them could be supplemented by the gossip his wife picked up in the circle of the officials' wives — this could be considered "madam diplomacy."

Heifu had no impression of these three colleagues; either they were not historical figures of note, or they were merely transient supporting characters, so he did not pay them much mind. As long as others did not provoke him, he would not provoke them. He still needed the three officials' coordination for much of his work.

"I've just arrived to assume office. Within this month, I won't rush to act. I'll first familiarize myself with the duties and authority of the post, build good relations with my colleagues, assess the competence of my subordinates, and understand the local situation — that's what's important."

Under the Qin system, the Commandant commanded the troops and assisted the Governor. Together with the Governor, he received the silver seal and official tally of appointment, serving as the deputy commander of the commandery. However, his duties were solely military, and he did not interfere in civil affairs.

Originally, one very important task of the Commandant was to preside over the commandery's "Eighth-Month Military Review." Held during the autumn agricultural off-season, able-bodied young men were summoned to practice archery and martial strength in each county, preparing for emergencies. But Heifu's timing was coincidental — by the time he arrived in Yiqu City and completed the handover with the previous Commandant, the month-long Eighth-Month Military Review had just concluded, and the young men had long since dispersed.

After the onset of winter, the Commandant's primary task shifted to guarding against bandits.

As early as his days as a Village Chief in Anlu, Heifu had known that every winter was the peak season for crime. The number of bandits in the villages and hamlets of the commandery and counties noticeably increased, especially in remote areas where highway robbery frequently occurred. Heifu himself had encountered three bandits by the shores of Cloud Dream Marsh at the end of September, just as winter was approaching.

Among these bandits, there were indeed true, hardened criminals, but the majority were desperate poor folk with no way out — rather than die of cold and hunger, they would stake their lives on one desperate gamble!

That was one factor. Moreover, Beidi Commandery was situated on the frontier, and the Rong tribes both within and beyond the borders, stricken by snow and disaster, might also take desperate risks and raid the hamlets.

Therefore, before the spring thaw, Heifu did not plan to make any major moves. Following the principle that "the governance of a true king addresses nothing more urgently than bandits and thieves," he would first establish public order and ensure Beidi passed the winter in peace.

But though Heifu did not seek trouble, trouble swiftly came knocking. On the fourth day after he arrived in Yiqu City to take up his post, Heifu was in his office with his Chief Clerk Chen Ping, checking the roster of commandery troops, when Zhai Chong, the Left Clerk of the Military Section, hurriedly entered, prostrated himself, and with a tense expression said:

"Commandant, something's happened over in Dayuan!"

PS: Right, there's no way I'm hitting the goal I set at the start of the month. From now on I'm a dog — you can call me Little Seven (the name I've picked for the dog my family hasn't bought yet), or Seven Dog, ranked right alongside Black Hound. Woof woof woof!

(End of chapter)