Chapter 411: The Immortals

Qin Shi Huang looked at Meng Tian; he placed great hopes on this general.

"If you can accomplish this extraordinary deed, Meng Tian, you shall be the Southern Zhong of Great Qin! Perhaps a hundred years from now, you may even enter the Border-Pacifying Shrine to receive accompanying sacrifices!"

Meng Tian, both startled and overjoyed, prostrated himself and resoundingly accepted the command!

Li Si, standing to the side, instantly understood. The Emperor had agreed to establish the Border-Pacifying Shrine not only, as Heifu had said, to blend the people of the realm and unite the peoples of the various Xia states to jointly confront the Rong, Di, and Xiongnu. It was also to spur on the generals, establishing above the twenty ranks of nobility yet another supreme reward for merit that they would all desperately crave!

Few in the world seek longevity, but every man yearns to die yet not decay into oblivion.

In the Spring and Autumn period, Shusun Bao of Lu and Fan Xuanzi of Jin once debated what "to die yet not decay" truly meant. Fan Xuanzi believed that because his ancestors had been aristocrats for generations since the times of Yu, Xia, Shang, and Zhou, their lineage illustrious and their sacrificial incense unbroken, this was "immortality." Shusun Bao disagreed, arguing that this could only be called "hereditary emolument," not "immortality."

What kind of undertaking, then, could truly be called "immortality"?

Shusun Bao summarized it in three things: "The highest is to establish virtue; the next, to establish merit; the next, to establish words. These are not abandoned even after long ages, and this is what is called the Three Immortalities!"

Establishing virtue is something only sages and worthies can achieve — it can be hoped for but not sought. Establishing words is the pursuit of civil officials; Li Si's own "Petition Against the Expulsion of Guest Officials" had already destined him to leave his name in the annals of history. And establishing merit — that is the goal of military officers.

Now, after establishing merit, being enshrined in the Border-Pacifying Shrine had suddenly become a shortcut for Qin dynasty military officers to attain "immortality."

Li Si could foresee that the Empire's generals, from this moment on, would pursue frontier military merit with even greater frenzy — which was exactly what the Emperor would be delighted to see.

"Commandant of Justice, Heifu always seems able to divine His Majesty's desires and produce a perfect countermeasure."

Li Si could not help recalling that remark Zhao Gao had made to him in Shanwu City, seemingly offhand…

"The younger generation is to be feared — how do we know the coming will not surpass the present…" This was Li Si's new assessment of Heifu.

However, Li Si also had his own confidence. Heifu's strategy, though novel and hitting the Emperor's mark precisely, had overlooked one crucial matter.

Heh, the younger generation may be fearsome, but they are still somewhat naive and callow.

After returning to the city, Li Si once more sought an audience with Qin Shi Huang and said:

"Your Majesty, your servant has heard it said that those who possess states and households do not worry about scarcity but about inequality. Now Your Majesty takes repelling enemies and pacifying the borders as the greatest merit, and regardless of their state of origin, all are to be admitted into the shrine for sacrifices. Yet since Lord Shang's reforms, the successive ministers who devoted themselves to unification have also rendered great merit to the state. How can it be that Li Mu and Qin Kai may enter the shrine and achieve immortal fame, while meritorious servants like Lord Wu'an are left forgotten? If only a Border-Pacifying Shrine is established, I fear the people of Qin will not be convinced."

Qin Shi Huang nodded. This was indeed a problem. The rivalry between Guanzhong and Guandong had never ceased from the very moment he ascended the throne.

The reason he had been able to assume personal rule and suppress Lao Ai's rebellion was by relying on the strength of the Guanzhong royal clan and the military-merit aristocracy; for a time, he had even been on the verge of expelling all guest officials. But Li Si, as the representative of the Guandong guest officials at the time, had strenuously urged Qin Shi Huang and dissuaded him from that notion.

Thus, in the court, Qin Shi Huang continued to employ easterners such as Lord Changping, Wei Liao, Li Si, and the Feng clan. But in the military, he began to promote trusted native-born generals, with Wang Jian, Li Xin, and others emerging in succession.

This model could be called: "Guanzhong produces generals, Guandong produces ministers."

Now the realm was unified, but these two bowls of water — Guanzhong and Guandong — still had to be kept level. In many instances, he even had to deliberately tilt toward Guanzhong. Qin Shi Huang understood well that the Qin people were the very foundation of his empire.

Now that Li Mu was entering the Border-Pacifying Shrine for sacrifices, what would his adversaries like Wang Jian think? They would surely be sour with envy.

Although "Loyal Soldier Cemeteries" had been established one after another in Nan Commandery and Beidi, those buried there were all nameless common soldiers.

Li Si suggested: "Your servant believes that another shrine temple could be established in the old Qin territories like Guanzhong, to be called the Temple of Meritorious Service, in order to commemorate the meritorious servants of unification. Lord Shang, Master Zhang, Lord Wu'an, and others could all be admitted into the temple…"

Entry into the Temple of Meritorious Service would have three thresholds: first, one must have rendered great merit to Qin's unification; second, one must have reached the rank of full Marquis; third, as with the Border-Pacifying Shrine, only the deceased would be sacrificed to — no living shrines would be established.

"The Commandant of Justice speaks with the seasoned prudence of one who plans for the state."

Qin Shi Huang did not stint his praise, but immediately after, he asked Li Si a pointed question.

"What does the Commandant of Justice think — should Lü Buwei enter this Temple of Meritorious Service?"

Li Si's heart tightened, yet without the slightest hesitation he answered: "Though Lü Buwei showed Li Si the kindness of recognition and patronage, Si will speak the honest truth: he was nothing more than an opportunistic merchant who stole the position of Chancellor, borrowed Qin's power to lord over the feudal lords, and manipulated the state for private gain. He bypassed Han and Wei to press eastward against Zhao and Yan, and for five years Qin did not gain a single foot of land, yet his own fief in Hejian was enlarged. When battles were won and cities taken, the profit went to Henan; the state was drained to contend with the feudal lords. When battles were lost, resentment was sown among the common people, and calamity fell upon the altars of state. What merit did the Lü clan have for Qin? How could he be admitted into the temple!"

"The Commandant of Justice sees things clearly."

By all reason, Qin Shi Huang should have been very satisfied with Li Si's answer. Back then, he had personally sent a letter to Lü Buwei, rebuking him in the missive: "What merit have you for Qin, that Qin enfeoffed you in Henan with a fief of a hundred thousand households? What kinship have you with Qin, that you dare call yourself Second Father!" — ultimately driving Lü Buwei to suicide.

Yet at this moment, Qin Shi Huang still felt somewhat disconsolate, perhaps recalling the devoted assistance and guidance Lü Buwei had given him when he first ascended the throne?

But as an emperor, one must sever those bonds of ordinary men, and even less can one lightly give rise to pity! What has been done cannot be desecrated!

"Your words are most excellent."

After a long while, Qin Shi Huang nodded and said: "In posthumously honoring those who pacified the borders, we must not forget the meritorious servants who unified the realm for Great Qin. Let it be thus: after returning to Xianyang, the Commandant of Justice shall consult with the Chancellor's Office and the Imperial Secretary to determine who may enter the temple and who may not — all must be carefully weighed!"

"Aye!"

Li Si withdrew backward from the traveling palace chamber; even Zhao Gao withdrew. Inside the chamber, only Qin Shi Huang remained, lost in thought.

To say Lü Buwei had no merit for the state was false. Setting aside his merit in establishing the Former King, had it not been for the Lü clan, he himself might have remained forever in Handan, a forsaken descendant of the Qin royal house.

And the greatest contribution Lü Buwei made during his tenure in power was laying the institutional groundwork for Qin's post-unification rule, compiling the Lüshi Chunqiu, so that scholars from the feudal lords flocked in brilliant numbers to serve Qin.

In the early days of his personal rule, Qin Shi Huang had also been troubled: how should he deal with the prestige and renown Lü Buwei had left behind?

In the end, he made the correct choice: if you want the world to forget a man, you must establish achievements tenfold or a hundredfold greater than his!

When all men are dazzled by the light the sun emits, they will pay no heed to the dim stars at its edge.

Sure enough, after the realm was unified, few in the world still remembered Lü Buwei's achievements.

What Qin Shi Huang now intended to do was somewhat similar to that year. He scrutinized the maps of Beijia and Henan, murmuring to himself:

"What is the best way to make the people of Daibei forget Li Mu?"

Was it to simply ban the Li Mu Shrines and force the Zhao people to forget him? That probably would not work.

The best method was to establish achievements even greater than those of King Wuling of Zhao, Li Mu, Qin Kai, and the rest combined!

To govern with a prosperity surpassing the Three Dynasties, to far outstrip Zhao and Yan!

To make the objects of later generations' mourning and sacrifices in the Border-Pacifying Shrine become the many generals under the First Emperor of Qin! To let the clustered, star-bright radiance of their brilliance thoroughly overshadow even Li Mu and Qin Kai.

In that case, would it be they who truly achieved deathless immortality? Or would it be he — the First Emperor of Qin, who, though not entering the shrine, would be forgotten by no one!?

"We shall establish Shuofang as commanderies and counties, expel the Hu and Rong, so that the northern frontier's distant cities may close their gates in peace, cattle and horses blanket the wilds, for a hundred generations there shall be no alarm of barking dogs, and the common people shall suffer no toil of shield and spear!"

"We swear to annihilate the Xiongnu!"

…

While Qin Shi Huang toured Yunzhong in the north, his sword pointed at the Xiongnu, Chen Ping and his party, after months of arduous travel with many stops and starts, had at last reached their final destination: the Xiongnu Chanyu's Royal Court — Touman City!

(End of Chapter)