Chapter 399: On a Mission to the Frontier

The Xiao Pass of the Qin era was not in the same location as in later times — it was not at Chaona, but north of Huan County, on the open terrace of the east bank of the Huan River. This military border town at the northernmost tip of Beidi Commandery was built to guard against incursions by the Hu tribes. Its walls were rammed extremely thick, making it look like a squat, solid earthen enclosure.

This was the great northern gate of the Guanzhong heartland; entering the pass, one could follow the Huan River, the Ni River, and the Jing River straight to Xianyang. Holding Beidi like a belt and guarding Guanzhong like a throat, it was truly a strategic northern stronghold.

The previous month, the newly appointed Commandant of Beidi, Heifu, made a special inspection tour here. Although the season for "sending warmth" had already passed, he still made a point of slaughtering sheep and gifting wine to the commandery soldiers and garrison conscripts, commending their toil in guarding the frontier for the state.

After the Commandant left, Xiao Pass fell quiet and desolate once more.

The second month passed in a flash. In the late third month of the twenty-eighth year of the First Emperor's reign (the third month of the lunar calendar), the crack of whips sounded and carriage wheels rumbled as a huge convoy of carts and horses came from the south. One ox- and horse-drawn freight wagon after another was piled high with goods: bolt upon bolt of silk cloth, and brown sugar just shipped in from Nan Commandery.

On each large cart sat a driver of consummate skill; beside the carts walked fully armed guards, mostly fierce young men of Beidi, along with a few Rong tribal riders clearing the way ahead.

This was the trading caravan of the Wushi Luo clan, with Wushi Yan personally leading it. But unlike his usual trips beyond the frontier, his carriage carried an extra passenger — a man in plain cloth robes, eight chi tall, fair-skinned, of imposing and dignified bearing, refined in speech, and very gentle when he smiled.

Wushi Yan said that this was a tally clerk sent by the government offices to keep the accounts, and everyone could call him Master Chen.

Master Chen was Chen Ping. He had his own calculations about his mission: "I have heard that in the time of King Zhao of Yan, the state of Yan had a worthy general named Qin Kai. He deliberately served as a hostage among the Eastern Hu, and the Eastern Hu trusted him deeply. Qin Kai used the opportunity to master the Eastern Hu's customs, geography, and military affairs. After returning to Yan, King Zhao appointed Qin Kai as general, and he led a surprise attack on the Eastern Hu, routing them utterly and driving them back over a thousand li. Thus Yan gained the Liaodong region…"

"Now the Emperor intends to take action on the northern frontier. The Commandant is a senior official and cannot move lightly. If I go beyond the frontier with the merchants to spy out the true state of the Xiongnu, why could I not achieve the same kind of merit as Qin Kai!"

Though Chen Ping valued his life, he also felt that in youth one needed a measure of daring. Hadn't Heifu, originally a petty clerk, first made a name for himself precisely by venturing alone into the enemy camp on a feigned surrender?

With such plans, Chen Ping cast aside all sentimental attachments to wife and children. Emulating Yu the Great, who passed his own home three times without entering, he did not even go home, nor did he care for his wife and child. After accompanying Heifu on the inspection of Xiao Pass, he went straight to Wushi County, where day and night he pressed Wushi Yan for information about conditions beyond the frontier, and even taught himself a Beidi dialect so convincing it could pass for genuine.

The party rested one night at Xiao Pass. The next day, after the garrison soldiers inspected their goods, they were granted leave to exit the pass.

Chen Ping had come to Xiao Pass once the previous month with Heifu, but his footsteps had been confined within the pass. The world beyond the pass was still a blank to him. On his first visit to the northern frontier beyond the wall, he could not help feeling curious, looking this way and that.

He could clearly sense that after leaving the pass, the surrounding scenery changed markedly. Inside the pass, farming and herding coexisted; one could see hamlet fields from time to time, streams gurgling through the loess gullies, wild peach blossoms on the hillsides blazing in brilliant bloom. The roadside vegetation also grew with extreme lushness — the glossy green leaves of willows and poplars, their long branches, kept brushing onto the road…

Outside the pass it was different. The graceful willows and poplars vanished from the roadside; large swaths of bare loess appeared on the hills, and the grasslands were sparse and thin, nowhere near as luxuriant as inside the pass.

Wushi Yan explained the reason: "Inside the Long Wall, it rains ten times a year; outside the Long Wall, three to five times is already good."

The Qin Long Wall was built precisely along this watershed, enclosing the fine pastures.

He added: "But the lands beyond the northern frontier are not everywhere like this. Where rivers pass through, there are also many pastures of lush water and grass — the Hetao bend, the Helan Mountains, and the Huama Pond that our trade route must pass, all are like that!"

Yellow sands and wild grasses stretched boundless to the horizon, with no high mountains or great chasms to serve as barriers. Only after traveling seven or eight days across this desolate wilderness did the caravan, plagued by heat and thirst, come upon a small lake of lush water and grass, just as Wushi Yan had described.

The moment he saw the lake, one of the fierce young men on his first trip beyond the frontier let out a cheer and ran over to draw water, intending to drink his fill. No matter how the others called, he would not listen.

As it turned out, the moment he scooped up the lake water and drank, he spat it out with a "Wah!" and cursed: "It's salty enough to kill your old man — how can this water be so bitter and briny!"

"This is Huama Pond, also called Salt Lake. How could it not be salty?"

The merchants burst out laughing. Chen Ping also took a ladle to the water's edge, scooped up a little to taste — sure enough, it was salty and astringent…

What they had reached was only a small lake. They traveled another day before arriving at the true "Huama Pond."

Standing in the carriage, Chen Ping was astonished to find a vast silver mirror suddenly spread out before him, dozens of li across. Under the sunlight, the water's surface glittered in a vast expanse of crystalline white. Around the pond, green grass spread like a carpet and wildflowers grew in clusters. Some bare-chested Rong people were using tools to pry up slabs of white solid along the dried lake shore…

Wushi Yan introduced it to him: "In this region there are over twenty lakes large and small, more than half of them salt lakes. Salt can be produced here in all four seasons. This Huama Pond before us in particular yields salt with large grains, a bluish hue, and a mellow flavor that lingers — hence it is called 'blue salt.'"

Chen Ping silently noted this down, then asked: "Then why is it called Huama Pond?"

"That comes from a legend of the local Xuyan Rong people."

Wushi Yan said: "It is said that this great pond was originally fresh water. Several hundred years ago, when the Xuyan Rong first migrated here, a dappled horse descended from the heavens and galloped into the pond. A year later, the pond water turned bitter and salty, naturally forming salt. For a thousand years, it has never been exhausted no matter how much is taken. The Rong people therefore call this great salt pond Huama Pond, and the town built beside the pond is called Huama Pond Town…"

As he finished speaking, following the direction of his pointing finger, Chen Ping saw a crude little settlement — this was Huama Pond Town.

Huama Pond was the main source of salt for Beidi Commandery. The Wushi brothers attached great importance to it. Although this place lay beyond the frontier, they had obtained the rights to mine and sell the salt by bribing the Lord of Xuyan. Even within the town, there were houses specifically for the Wushi merchants to stay in.

During the two days they stopped at Huama Pond, Chen Ping witnessed the hospitality of the Rong people. The local chieftains and tribal nobles all depended on the Wushi clan to bring goods from the Central Plains. An endless stream of them came to pay visits, all folding their arms across their chests and bowing deeply to Wushi Yan. Wushi Yan, in turn, shed the humility he displayed within the empire and accepted it all with perfect composure…

On the second night, the Lord of Xuyan held a special banquet for Wushi Yan. Chen Ping posed as his attendant and sat off to the side to keep him company.

The Lord of Xuyan sat high in the seat of honor. He was forty or fifty years of age, his hair graying, but his physique still imposing and powerful. His handlebar mustache was oiled, gleaming as if it were real gold.

Wushi Yan was fluent in the languages of the Rong tribes beyond the frontier. Chen Ping could not understand much of what he said to the Lord of Xuyan, so he occupied himself with slicing the delicious salt-pond lamb before him with a small knife while studying the hall.

Rong customs differed greatly from those of the Central Plains. Though Huama Pond Town was called a town, the buildings within it were utterly haphazard. This "palace" of the Rong lord was merely a deep, cavernous timber dining hall. The walls, built of rough logs, rose four zhang high. The roof was a great canopy woven from dozens of felt cloths — when hung, it could block sudden wind and rain; when taken down, it welcomed the endless sky.

Inside, the Xuyan chieftains held ox-horn cups, passing around the exquisite lacquerware and pottery that Wushi Yan had brought from the interior, talking loudly and occasionally raising their thumbs in approval. These were things they could never produce themselves.

At that moment, Wushi Yan finished his conversation with the Lord of Xuyan and whispered to Chen Ping: "The Lord of Xuyan asked me why I have come so early this year."

"In previous years when leaving the frontier, we always went first to Helan, then to Huama Pond Town, then east to Shang Commandery. But this time is different — we are going to make a great loop!"

Wushi Yan had previously explained the geography beyond the frontier to Chen Ping. The place they were now in was actually part of a great bend of the great river. The river emerged from Jishi Mountain in the Qiang lands and flowed northeast. After two thousand li, it made a turn and abruptly swung east. This east-west stretch of the river was called the "Northern River" by the Qin people. The Northern River ran for over a thousand li, all the way to the border between Shang Commandery and Yunzhong, before making another turn and rushing southward…

This was also the trade route of the Wushi merchants, which basically allowed one to make a circuit of the entire "Land South of the River," passing through the Baiyang, Loufan, Linhu, and other tribes that submitted to the Xiongnu. If the opportunity arose, they might even go to Hetao and visit the Xiongnu capital, Touman City.

Just then, the Lord of Xuyan was again calling out Wushi Yan's name, urging him to rise and drink another cup of wine.

Just as the banquet atmosphere grew more and more heated, and even the Lord of Xuyan himself came down, swaying his body and dancing with the Rong women, the doors of the hall were violently shoved open!

Chen Ping looked over and saw several Xuyan Rong men rush in with terrified expressions. Close behind them followed several Hu men wearing felt caps and carrying bows and arrows on their backs…

Their leader strode into the hall with great steps. The man was tall and large, a felt cap on his head, his skin yellowish-brown, his brows and eyes long and narrow. His drooping long beard was bound ring by ring with silver metal bands, and his black hair, dark and glossy, was tied into countless braids with silver bells suspended among them.

The Lord of Xuyan, whose banquet had been disturbed, was at first extremely angry. But the moment he saw this man, he deflated like a pufferfish full of air. Casting aside all his dignity, he scurried over to the Hu man, fell to both knees, and kissed the toe of his boot…

The Xuyan people in the hall were also trembling with fear, no longer daring to speak loudly.

"Who is this man?"

Chen Ping asked Wushi Yan in a low voice.

"It is a Grand Danghu of the Xiongnu," Wushi Yan answered, also lowering his voice. Danghu was a Xiongnu official title.

"What is he doing at Huama Pond?"

"He has come to collect the 'salt tax.'"

Watching the Lord of Xuyan desperately fawn and grovel before the Xiongnu Grand Danghu, Wushi Yan said with a touch of pity: "The Xuyan Rong, in the eyes of the Xiongnu, are nothing but their salt slaves!"

Chen Ping had heard Wushi Yan say before that the Xiongnu originally lived in the Yin Mountains and Hetao. After they gradually grew powerful, they annexed some surrounding tribes but did not annihilate them. Instead, they treated entire tribes as slaves subject to them, forcing these tribes to provide their local specialties.

Xuyan produced salt, so they were salt slaves; Loufan were skilled archers, so they were bow slaves; Linhu had much timber, so they were wood slaves; the Baiyang tribe of the Land South of the River excelled at raising sheep, so they were sheep slaves…

Toward these enslaved tribes, the Xiongnu essentially took whatever they wanted and seized whatever they pleased. The four tribes had once resisted, but compared to the Xiongnu, who could field a hundred thousand mounted archers, they were far too weak. After being massacred a few times, they became obedient.

"So that's how it is! It seems the bow-drawing peoples are not a monolithic bloc after all."

Looking around the hall at the few Xuyan chieftains who, watching their own ruler grovel and kiss up to the Xiongnu Grand Danghu, were furious but dared not speak, a scheme immediately sprang to life in Chen Ping's mind…

However, the Xiongnu Grand Danghu had also noticed the Wushi Rong in the hall, as well as Chen Ping beside him, who was dressed in the manner of the Central Plains. Paying no further attention to the Lord of Xuyan, he walked up to Wushi Yan and, laughing heartily, spoke a few words. Wushi Yan answered with meek deference.

With that, the Xiongnu Grand Danghu strode straight to Xuyan Jun's seat, lifted the ox-horn cup and downed a cup of wine in one go, then threw his arms around two Rong women and swaggered off...

"What else did he say?"

Chen Ping was deeply concerned.

Wushi Yan gave a bitter laugh. "The Grand Danghu said he never expected to meet merchants from the Central Plains here. The son of Chanyu Touman, the steed of the grasslands, Prince Modu of the Luandi clan, will soon take a beautiful Yanzhi as his bride beneath the Helan Mountains. The prince must prepare gifts for his Yanzhi, and silk from the Central Plains is indispensable."

"He invited... no, he commanded us to follow him to the Helan Mountains tomorrow and pay our respects to Prince Modu!"

(End of Chapter)