Chapter 413: A Stray Cur

Three members of the merchant caravan were permitted to enter the great tent: one was Wu Shiyan; the second was Chen Ping, serving as his deputy and carrying some valuable gifts; the third was an interpreter dressed in Xiongnu attire. He was a "Xiazi"—one of the very few born of a Qin and a Xiongnu—who had drifted to the border pass and had already served the Wu clan for ten years, utterly loyal.

But as for courage, well, he was somewhat lacking in that.

The moment the richly dressed elder inside Chanyu Touman's tent spoke, the interpreter, who understood the Xiongnu tongue, was the first to change color and tremble uncontrollably. Wu Shiyan, who had traveled beyond the frontier for years on his elder brother's behalf and also understood a little Xiongnu speech, was greatly alarmed upon hearing this, thinking to himself: This is bad! Could it be that our side's objective has been exposed?

Only Chen Ping—no matter how clever he was—faced with a language family utterly different from Xia speech, had, after several months, only grasped a few simple words.

Now, having picked out a few common terms like "Chanyu," "Qin," "merchant," "bad," and "kill," and seeing the expressions of his two companions, how could he not guess the meaning!

Fortunately, Chanyu Touman did not hurl his wine cup and have countless Xiongnu warriors surge in from outside the tent. Instead, his narrow eyes fixed on the trembling interpreter and asked, "Why such terror?"

"These fellows have had their identities exposed by me—how could they not be terrified?"

The richly dressed elder answered preemptively in the Xiongnu tongue, then repeated it in Xia speech, seemingly intending to intimidate Wu Shiyan and Chen Ping, to make them reveal their true colors as well.

But Wu Shiyan had at least seen his share of scenes and merely broke out in a slight sweat on his forehead, while Chen Ping noticed the elder's heavy Yan region accent...

The interpreter prostrated himself, stammering and unable to speak, on the verge of breaking down, when Chen Ping, standing behind him, stepped forward, patted his shoulder, advanced a step, and said with a cupped-hand salute:

"The interpreter is a Xiongnu man who has long resided in the interior, yet he has always looked up to the Chanyu and yearned to return to his homeland and take part in ancestral rites. Today, returning to Touman City and coinciding with the Dailin Grand Assembly, witnessing ten thousand horses galloping was already a tremendous delight; beholding the Chanyu's majesty, he is filled with both reverence and awe, hence his trembling fear. I beg the Chanyu not to take offense."

Among the Xiongnu there were also those versed in both Hu and Xia tongues, and they translated Chen Ping's words for the Chanyu. The elder, however, gave a cold snort and said, "No use covering it up further. They are clearly terrified because their identities as spies have been exposed!"

Chen Ping looked at him. "May I ask who you are, venerable sir? Why do you slander us humble small traders and insist we are spies?"

"And who are you?" the elder retorted haughtily.

"I am Zhang Ping, a Northern Lands Accounting Clerk assigned by the government to the merchant caravan. May I ask the venerable sir's name?"

Chen Ping reported his identity without haste. The Wu clan caravan was an official Qin merchant operation; this was no secret, and the Xiongnu were well aware of exactly whom they had been doing business with all these years.

"A mere petty Qin clerk, and you think yourself worthy of knowing this old man's name?" The elder dismissed Chen Ping with utter contempt.

It was the Chanyu who nodded and signaled the person beside him to introduce on his behalf: "This is Grand Tutor Ju of Yan! The Grand Tutor says that Qin intends to move troops against the Xiongnu and has sent you into our territory to spy for intelligence. Guests, please explain yourselves!"

"Grand Tutor Ju?"

Wu Shiyan did not know who this person was, but Chen Ping felt a jolt in his heart:

"So it's you—Ju Wu!"

As Heifu's chief strategist, aiding him in plotting against the Xiongnu, Chen Ping knew that knowing the enemy and knowing yourself ensures victory in a hundred battles. He had therefore studied the entanglements between Qin, Zhao, Yan, and the Xiongnu. He knew that the Zhao general Li Mu had once inflicted a great defeat on the Xiongnu, and he also knew that before Yan's destruction, Crown Prince Dan of Yan's Grand Tutor, Ju Wu, had once put forward a proposal:

At that time, the Qin turncoat general Fan Yuqi had fled to Yan. Ju Wu strongly advocated not sheltering this man, lest it give Qin a pretext to attack Yan, and proposed sending him to live among the Xiongnu instead. Furthermore, since Yan was weak and remote, unable to contend with mighty Qin, they should "ally with the Three Jin in the west, join with Qi and Chu in the south, and purchase troops from the Chanyu in the north—only thereafter could a plan be made."

This "purchase" meant borrowing troops. Had Heifu been present, he would surely have thought this bore some resemblance to the later strategy of Shi Jingtang borrowing troops from the Liao...

Inviting foreign invaders into a civil war is no different from inviting a wolf into the house!

Crown Prince Dan of Yan thought Ju Wu's proposal was sound, but it would require a considerable length of time, and a united front could not be guaranteed to succeed. He therefore did not adopt Ju Wu's plan and instead began plotting the assassination of Qin.

Ju Wu, to his credit, was diligent and responsible, and recommended his old friend, a swordsman named "Tian Guang," to Crown Prince Dan. Tian Guang declined on account of old age and in turn recommended a man from Wei named Jing Ke to the Crown Prince...

Thus came the farewell on the banks of the Yi River, and the sound of Gao Jianli striking the zhu.

After Jing Ke's failed assassination of Qin, Yan likewise fell. King Xi of Yan fled into Liaodong. It was said that Ju Wu did not go to Liaodong at that time, but lingered with Acting King Zhao Jia, continuing to advocate allying with the Xiongnu to resist Qin. In the years that followed, Yan and Dai both perished, and Ju Wu's whereabouts became unknown—some thought him dead, others thought him fled. So he had escaped to the Xiongnu after all! (See Chapter 286)

Having reasoned out the cause and effect, Chen Ping thought to himself: "Ju Wu is of the Yan ducal clan and once served as Crown Prince Dan's tutor. Disregarding his aged body past sixty, he has wandered from Yan to Dai and beyond the northern frontier. He is likely, like Gao Jianli, single-mindedly bent on revenge and restoring his state. That is why he is so determined to put us to death today!"

Sure enough, Ju Wu strode forth and began enumerating the Qin merchants' crimes one by one:

"I have heard that over the past year, Qin has replaced the Commandants of Shang, Yunzhong, and Beidi Commanderies, increased the border garrison troops, and relocated settlers to the frontier for military farming. It is obvious they are plotting something beyond the border."

"Second, last year the King of Qin, Zhao Zheng, toured Longxi and Beidi in the west, and this year he toured Daibei in the north. His intention to use troops against the Xiongnu is more glaringly evident than ever."

"Third, at this extraordinary juncture, Qin merchants openly venture beyond the frontier, not taking the old trade routes of previous years, but making a great detour through the desert and the river bend, tramping all across the Xiongnu's Henan and Beijia lands. If this is not espionage, what is it?"

Ju Wu kept a constant watch on Qin's movements, and his nose was sensitive. Although the use of troops against the Xiongnu was a secret known only to high court officials and local commandery and county Commandants and Governors...

Heifu had been very cautious, cutting off the possibility of private merchants going beyond the frontier and leaking intelligence, and had kept war preparations and troop training highly covert. But in other commanderies and counties, there were still bound to be clues...

With each point Ju Wu made, Wu Shiyan's head drooped a fraction lower. The present situation was extremely dangerous. Once their identities as spies were confirmed, even if they were not killed, they would likely never hope to leave the Xiongnu again!

Chen Ping was not willing to accept that. His wife and children were waiting for him to come home, and there was a great deal of future rank and glory to be won. He was not resigned to herding sheep as a slave in the desert...

However, there was still a chance. Chen Ping knew that the fact Chanyu Touman was allowing them to explain meant he was still half-skeptical of Ju Wu's words!

Of the three who had entered the tent, the interpreter was terrified out of his wits, and Wu Shiyan was merely a merchant—capable enough in business, but he had never experienced a scene like this. Whether they could walk away today depended entirely on himself!

And so, as Ju Wu finished speaking, Chen Ping suddenly burst into loud laughter.

Chanyu Touman, puzzled, had someone ask Chen Ping why he was laughing.

"I am laughing at this venerable sir, who still dares to call himself Grand Tutor of Yan?"

His tone exaggerated, he spoke with feigned astonishment: "Is there still a state of Yan in this world? Since Yan has already perished, where does a Grand Tutor come from? Venerable sir, you disdain me as a mere petty clerk on a peck of grain, unwilling to exchange words with me. Little do you realize, you are even less than I am. Having lost your office and stipend from Yan, to put it nicely, you are a decrepit old commoner; to put it bluntly, you are nothing but a..."

"A stray cur!"

Even in exile among the Xiongnu, Ju Wu had been treated as an honored guest by Chanyu Touman and shown courtesy. He had never been so humiliated. Enraged, he cursed:

"How dare you, brat! Chanyu, the evidence that these men are spies is conclusive. I beg you to execute them at once! And at the same time, sharpen weapons and feed horses to guard against a Qin incursion from the north!"

"What sort of evidence is this?"

Chen Ping spread his hands and said unhurriedly, "Though I am but a petty clerk on a peck of grain, I have traveled the borderlands for years and know that within the Long Walls dwell the people of caps and sashes, and beyond the Long Walls dwell the people of drawn bows. The lands are divided, the soil separated, with no mutual encroachment. Inner-land fields and houses are of no use to the Chanyu, just as the grasslands and deserts beyond the frontier are of no use to the Emperor. Each side guards its own borders and merely trades goods. This state of affairs has persisted for over ten years."

Wu Shiyan's expression grew strange. This was the very argument his elder brother had used over a year ago to oppose the Emperor's military action against the Xiongnu. In fact, it was not only Wu Shiluo—some ministers in Xianyang also held this view. Yet now Chen Ping was borrowing it. This young man had volunteered to go beyond the frontier to scout the truth; it seemed he truly had some skill after all...

Chen Ping continued, "As for the dispatch of officials and the inspection of borders, these are routine matters—what is so strange about them? Does the Chanyu not also conduct spring and summer hunting tours and rotate grazing grounds? Did he not send Prince Modu to garrison Helan, replace several Danghu officers, and even shelter criminals wanted by the Emperor, using them to spy on the interior..."

Chen Ping pointed at Ju Wu. "Could that also be taken as evidence that the Chanyu intends to use troops against the border commanderies of Great Qin?"

Now it was Chanyu Touman's turn to be embarrassed. The Xiongnu truly had very limited knowledge of the interior, most of it coming from exiles like Ju Wu. But Ju Wu had a vendetta against Qin, and the information he provided was too subjective—that was precisely why Touman was only half-convinced.

Seizing the moment, Chen Ping bit back at Ju Wu: "Ju Wu says Qin desires to attack the Xiongnu, but he merely wants to sow enmity between the Chanyu and the Emperor so that he can take the opportunity to restore Yan. For the idle speculation of a stray cur, a decrepit old commoner, to incur the enmity of mighty Qin—Chanyu, I urge you to consider this transaction carefully. Is it worth it?"

After hearing the translation, Touman remained silent for a long while. Ju Wu, however, stared fixedly at Chen Ping and, contrary to expectations, did not rage but laughed.

In Ju Wu's view, Chen Ping was standing here spouting eloquence, smug and self-satisfied, little realizing that his cleverness was precisely his undoing!

"Zhang Ping, are you truly just a petty Qin clerk on a peck of grain? Why is it that I hear in your speech a certain flair of the Vertical and Horizontal strategists? Could it be that in this mission of Qin merchants acting as spies to probe Xiongnu's true state, you are actually the one in charge!?"

(End of Chapter)