Chapter 409: Not of Our Kin

In mid-July, the autumn tiger roared in fiercely, bringing a touch of sweltering heat even to Beidi Commandery.

On an afternoon off from official duties at home, Lady Ye, four months pregnant, dozed on the daybed; ever since she had conceived, she had become terribly drowsy.

Heifu sat beside her, a rush-leaf fan in one hand to cool his wife, while the other held a scroll of a book, which he was reading with keen delight.

Reading — this was Heifu's new hobby over the past two years. Before, his status had been lowly, and he had been too busy with saddle and horse to have the time; only after he became an official in Guanzhong did the conditions allow it.

This was the benefit of being friends with a top scholar: whatever he wanted to read, he would just let Zhang Cang know, and this dot-matrix librarian would have the scribes copy the text from the ancient bamboo slips onto paper and deliver it to Heifu.

As far as Heifu knew, Zhang Cang had spent this entire half-year busy copying the books of the Six States from the stone chamber onto paper. Ever since hemp paper and bark paper were invented, not only had official document exchanges become more convenient, but knowledge had also become easier to disseminate.

The amount of knowledge that once required "five cartloads of learning" could now fit into a single case of paper books.

Heifu secretly mused that if, before the burning of the books, he had craftsmen tinker out woodblock printing and handed it to Zhang Cang, then no matter how great the fire, it probably could not burn up all the private book collections under heaven...

That matter was still too early. He glanced at his wife, sleeping with a serene expression, her eyes closed so that her lashes looked very long, smiled, and then continued reading the Zuo Tradition of the Spring and Autumn Annals in his hand, softly reciting a line from it.

"Those not of our kin are sure to harbor a different heart..."

Although Heifu disliked the Confucian academicians, he held no prejudice against the Odes and Documents themselves; he had even tried to emulate Lord Guan by reading the Spring and Autumn Annals. But the books of Master Kong were truly both too simple and too obscure, and he had no interest in those subtle and profound moral meanings either.

It was Zhang Cang who told him that when reading the Spring and Autumn Annals, one must read the three commentaries, and according to Heifu's preferences, Zhang Cang recommended the Zuo Tradition, which was the strongest in narrative and historical fact, to Heifu.

After reading it, Heifu felt he had benefited enormously.

For example, this line, "Those not of our kin are sure to harbor a different heart," was often used by later generations in certain contexts targeting certain matters, but originally, it was what the people of Lu said about the people of Chu...

It turned out that the whole context was this: during the Spring and Autumn period, Jin and Chu contended for hegemony, and Lu was caught between the two overlords. Duke Cheng of Lu went to pay court to Duke Jing of Jin and was treated rudely. Unable to swallow his anger, he planned to defect to Chu. His minister Ji Wenzi then admonished him: "Those who are not of the same kin cannot possibly be of one heart. Though Chu is large, it is not of our Ji clan, and cannot be relied upon."

This "kin" had a very narrow meaning; it actually referred to clans of different surnames, not ethnic groups. In earlier times, Xia, Shang, and Zhou were also not of the same kin. Even within Lu itself, the city-dwelling lords who came from the west and the local Eastern Yi "wild men" were two groups as distinct as the Jing and Wei rivers.

From clan to ethnic group, China underwent several millennia. By the Spring and Autumn period, the distinction between city and wild gradually dissolved, and only then did the "Various Xia," the predecessors of the Han people, emerge.

However, some examples Heifu saw in this Zuo Tradition truly illustrated that the "Various Xia" of the Central Plains at the time clearly excluded Chu, and the Chu people themselves often identified as Man and Yi barbarians.

For instance, several Chu rulers often openly declared, "I am a barbarian." And when later generations recounted the hegemony of Duke Huan of Qi, they said: "The southern Yi and the northern Di pressed in; the Central States were as tenuous as a thread. Duke Huan rescued the Central States and repelled the Yi and Di, and finally subdued Jing. This he regarded as the work of a true king."

This had nothing to do with bloodline but was a regional and political viewpoint. Although Chu was descended from Zhuanxu and Zhurong, it had long been isolated in the south, eating rice and fish soup, and it was entirely normal for it to be discriminated against by the Ji, Jiang, and Zi-surnamed lords of the Central Plains. Even a proper Ji-surnamed descendant, the King of Wu — indisputably of Lu's own kin — was cursed as a barbarian beast by the Central Plains because his lifestyle had become Yue-ified: he had abandoned rites and music and switched to speaking the barbarian tongue. King Fuchai of Wu, who with his short-cropped hair and body covered in dragon-and-serpent tattoos looked more like a later-era Thai, did not care, declaring, "I am tattooed; I am not fit to be judged by the rites."

Even Qin, because it frequently allied with Chu, was several times "expelled" from the Various Xia by Jin and excluded from alliance meetings. Of course, it was not that Qin was truly no longer of the Various Xia; the nature of this was much like a certain present-day superpower unilaterally designating a "rogue state"...

As time entered the Warring States period, with increasingly frequent interactions, the circle of the Various Xia began to expand, no longer confined to the narrow Ji and Jiang lords, but spreading across the entire Nine Provinces.

Although differences existed among the Seven Great Powers, centuries of interaction had satisfied the elements of a single ethnic group: "a common language, a common territory, a common economic life, and a common psychological disposition." The "Seven States of the Sashed and Capped" became a common designation to distinguish them from the Rong and Di, whose lives and languages were vastly different.

If anyone now repeated the old refrain, like the regional bigot Mencius, and called Chu barbarian, the Chu people could throw a wealth of magnificent lacquerware and silk paintings, Qu Yuan's rhapsodies, and Chu bamboo-slip Confucian classics right back in his face...

By this time, however, because Qin was powerful and repeatedly encroached upon and brutalized the six states, the six states were filled with hostility toward Qin and still regarded the Qin people as "others" who shared the customs of the Rong and Di.

Qin was playing precisely the role that Chu and Wu had played in the Spring and Autumn period.

Now, although Qin had unified all within the seas, it had to be admitted that the boundary between "the Qin people" and "the people of the feudal lords" still existed. Most of the remnant populations of the six states knew they were people of Zhao or people of Chu, but did not know that they were all together people of the Various Xia, and even less would they regard the Qin officials who came to their region to take office or garrison as their own people.

To change this situation, Qin Shi Huang had already been doing some things subconsciously: standardizing cart tracks, standardizing the written script, and merging the sacrifices to the mountains and rivers of all under heaven. But to fuse the divided seven states into one state, and to blend the people of the seven states into a true "nation" in the fullest sense, was not something that could be accomplished in just one or two generations.

"Besides rigid administrative regulations, something that exerts a subtle, gradual influence is also needed." Heifu closed the book and thought to himself.

After reading half of the Zuo Tradition, Heifu felt that the factor that had spurred the formation of the "Various Xia" was the pressure of the southern Yi and northern Di pressing in, which forced the settled agriculturalists to unite.

And historically, the true formation of the "Han people" was probably also related to the frequent wars between the Central Xia and the Xiongnu and the Five Hu during the Han and Jin periods.

Only in that way could one understand the boundary between "them" and "us," and only then could one regard the sashed-and-capped people around them as their own kin.

But that method was far too passive. Could there be a way to unite proactively?

The "Pacify-the-Frontier Shrine" that Heifu had proposed a few days earlier might serve such a function.

In Heifu's design, the "Pacify-the-Frontier Shrine" was a public shrine established by the government, dedicated to worshipping the outstanding heroes of the Various Xia who, over the millennia, had made exceptional contributions to resisting the encroachment of the Rong and Di and expanding the territory!

It would not be constrained by state affiliation, would not worship rulers, and would not consider achievements in civil wars; it would look only at their contributions to resisting humiliation and opening up the frontiers...

He had also drafted a list of names for Qin Shi Huang to choose from.

The very first nominee was Guan Zhong!

Why?

The first to raise the banner of "Honor the King and Repel the Barbarians" was Guan Zhong.

The one who united the Various Xia and successfully withstood the wave of "the southern Yi and northern Rong pressing in together" was Guan Zhong.

Confucius once said: "But for Guan Zhong, we should now be wearing our hair loose and folding our lapels to the left!" — he held him in extremely high regard. He also said: "Duke Huan nine times assembled the feudal lords, and not by force of war chariots — this was the power of Guan Zhong." The meaning was clear: no matter who was on the throne, whether Xiaobai or Xiaohei, as long as he could put Guan Zhong in a position of importance, he could achieve the hegemony of Duke Huan of Qi!

A Duke Huan is common; Guan Zhong is one of a kind.

Next, in chronological order, came Youyu. Youyu was originally a man of Jin who fled into exile among the Rong and later submitted to Duke Mu of Qin, devising strategies for him. He helped Duke Mu attack the Western Rong, annexing twelve states and opening up a thousand li of territory, achieving hegemony over the Western Rong. Although not very well-known historically, he was very important to Qin.

Another candidate connected to Qin was Sima Cuo. Sima Cuo overrode Zhang Yi's arguments and proposed the strategy of first annexing Ba and Shu, then personally led the troops to destroy Shu and conquer Ba, incorporating these two "chiefs of the Rong and Di" into Qin.

In addition, there were Qin Kai of Yan and Li Mu of Zhao, who respectively dealt great defeats to the Eastern Hu and the Xiongnu, opening up a thousand li of territory — their deeds need no elaboration.

The list in Heifu's mind was, for the time being, just these five men. Quality over quantity; if just any achievement could earn a place in the shrine, then this Pacify-the-Frontier Shrine would be far too cheap.

Moreover, the Pacify-the-Frontier Shrines established in various places would differ in their primary and secondary dedications. For example, the shrine in Guanzhong would primarily worship Youyu, with the others in accompanying worship; in the Qi region, it would primarily worship Guan Zhong; in Ba and Shu, Sima Cuo; in Daibei and Liaodong, Li Mu and Qin Kai would be primary.

For the Pacify-the-Frontier Shrines, the commandery and county authorities were to perform seasonal sacrifices, and through the stories of the five men's achievements, vigorously propagate the concepts of "Huaxia" and "Various Xia" to the local commoners.

Heifu also planned to combine the Loyal Soldier Cemetery and the Pacify-the-Frontier Shrine together, making them the Qin Empire's "Patriotic Education Base"!

One, limited to Qin's old commanderies and counties, would elevate the Qin people's pride in soldiering; the other, spread across all under heaven, would propagate the concept that "the sashed-and-capped people are all one kin." The disciples in the study chambers would also, on Qingming Festival... ah, this era probably doesn't have Qingming Festival, so change it to Cold Food Festival, when the teachers would organize the students to go lay flowers and sweep the grounds — national consciousness must be nurtured from the young...

A scene with a strong sense of déjà vu; Heifu jokingly called it the "United Front."

Just yesterday, Qin Shi Huang's reply had arrived: two words — "Excellent!" — along with a gift of much gold and silk for Heifu.

A stone in Heifu's heart fell to the ground. He thought to himself: "The United Front, the military merit rank system, and legal construction — if these three great treasures can be upheld, the future is truly hard to predict."

He sank into his imagination, and the rush-leaf fan in his hand exerted a little too much force, waking his wife.

Ye Zijin had actually been awake for a while. Watching Heifu gesticulating there, she could not help but smile; she knew that when her husband became absorbed in thought, he would get inexplicably excited.

But then, Lady Ye furrowed her brows.

"My husband is a meat-eater who plans far ahead for the state, while I am but a woman whose vision does not reach so far, fixed only on things within a foot's measure."

She spoke to Heifu about a matter — something that had been faintly worrying her ever since Heifu sent his reply to Qin Shi Huang.

"That my husband's proposal has won His Majesty's praise is a good thing, but even a hundred considerations must have one oversight. I have been pondering it for a long time these days, and I feel that there is still one point about the Pacify-the-Frontier Shrine matter that is not quite appropriate."

"What is amiss?"

Heifu was baffled. He had won the emperor's praise, offended neither Li Si nor Meng Tian, and someone's petty scheme had failed to bear fruit — wasn't that perfect?

Ye Zijin, however, said, "Ever since my husband took a concubine, repeatedly proposed state policies, gained His Majesty's recognition, and became a high frontier official, the Commandant of Justice Li, I fear, can no longer regard my husband as a junior officer he and his son once fostered, can he?"

Indeed, Heifu could no longer be counted among "Li Si's faction" but now belonged to "Ye Teng's faction." On the treacherous and ever-shifting court, the line between ally and rival was a very fine one...

Ye Zijin felt that, if she put herself in Li Si's shoes, she too would find Heifu's dazzling performance daunting, a case of "the younger generation inspires awe" — especially with Heifu lately standing head and shoulders above the rest.

She lowered her voice and offered a well-meaning warning: "The Commandant of Justice even killed his fellow disciple Han Fei. He has never been a man of broad mind!"

PS: Right, there will probably be quite a few comments saying "The Zuo Commentary is a forgery." Truth is, ninety-nine percent of those who say that have never read the Zuo Commentary. The vast amount of daily life and custom details unique to the Spring and Autumn period in the text is practically impossible to forge. I won't rehash old arguments — just look into the Warring States Chu bamboo slips at Zhejiang University and you'll understand.

(End of chapter)