Chapter 431: First Know the Hardship of Sowing and Reaping

"Is His Majesty trying to roast me over the fire?"

After the military council on the campaign against the Xiongnu ended, faintly sensing the slightly strange looks from the other generals as they watched him, and catching the somewhat worried gaze of the Prefect of the Office of Palace Chariots, Zhao Gao, only one thought remained in Heifu's mind:

"I've overplayed it!"

He had originally intended to say a few sincere words to earn some points in the eyes of the First Emperor and Prince Fusu, with showing modesty and seeking land having much the same effect. Who would have guessed that his performance was too outstanding, and the First Emperor simply went with the flow, arranging everything for him with perfect clarity.

An army supervisor is either a favored minister of the ruler — Meng Yi, who supervised the Longxi army, falls into this category — or someone esteemed by the state, like the Commandant of Justice Li Si, who supervised the Shangjun army. There are also pragmatic doers like Zhang Han, who incidentally oversaw the building of roads and bridges.

Arranging for a prince to serve as army supervisor was not without precedent, but Heifu did not want Prince Fusu to go to Beidi Commandery as army supervisor in the slightest!

Because he was unwilling to be drawn prematurely into the deep waters of the succession struggle; he would rather remain on the shore and silently observe for a while first.

But things went against his wishes. The Emperor's command had been issued, and he had no choice but to obey.

The heart of an emperor is truly difficult to predict. Heifu did not even know whether the Emperor did this out of a genuine desire to train Fusu, or deliberately to make him bear more pressure.

Heifu had already been too sharp-edged lately, and had been advised by his wife to keep a lower profile. Otherwise, let alone fellow officers and generals, even the grandees at court would begin to fear and guard against him. Who knew that now, Prince Fusu, the most likely future heir to the empire, would be assigned to him as army supervisor...

Wasn't this deliberately pushing him right onto the crest of the wave!

Heifu could foresee that during this war, countless gazes would turn toward the north, watching his and Fusu's every move. Afterwards, no matter what happened, the label of "Fusu" would be stamped onto Heifu, very difficult to shake off.

Working together is sometimes also a kind of political mark.

At this point, Heifu could only console himself like this: "Thankfully, His Majesty only made Fusu my army supervisor, and not the commander-in-chief or deputy general..."

Heifu recalled a story he had read in the Zuo Tradition.

Duke Xian of Jin dispatched Crown Prince Shensheng to attack the Gaoluo clan of Dongshan. Minister Li Ke remonstrated, saying: "The crown prince is the one who attends to the ancestral temple sacrifices, the great state altars, and looks after the ruler's meals morning and evening. Therefore he is called the heir. When the ruler goes abroad, he guards the state; if another guards it, he follows the ruler. Following abroad is called 'soothing the army'; guarding within is called 'supervising the state.' This is the ancient system."

In short, the eldest son of the ruler must not lead the army, and going out on campaign easily invites unforeseen disaster. Once a prince is assigned by the ruler to lead troops as a general and go out on campaign, it basically means he has no chance at the throne.

Army supervisor is somewhat better; it falls under the "soothing the army" role that a prince may undertake, merely a temporary assignment. Moreover, an army supervisor does not interfere in military affairs, only overseeing supervision, thus avoiding the awkwardness of disputes and requests for instructions.

"It is still early days yet. The future has already changed; everything is unknown. For now, I can only deal with each situation as it comes. Besides, it's not entirely bad. Spending time with Fusu, I can observe his words and examine his bearing, and figure out just what kind of prince he is..."

Having made up his mind, when night came, Heifu was about to grab a bottle of wine and go chat with Li Xin, the only one among his fellow generals who could be considered a friend, when unexpectedly, a receptionist also came to inform him that the Emperor had summoned him for an audience...

Heifu hurriedly followed the receptionist there. Once inside, the First Emperor was the same as ever, looking at never-ending memorials, only they had changed from the heavy bamboo slips of the past to lightweight sheets of paper — the Emperor permitted the localities to use both paper and bamboo slips, but documents submitted to the imperial court absolutely had to use paper! As for those not using paper, did they intend to exhaust His Majesty the Emperor to death?

This was also the greatest driving force for promoting paper in the localities.

He had assumed the First Emperor would talk about the matter of sending Prince Fusu to the Beidi army as supervisor. Who would have thought that the moment they met, he would ask Heifu an extremely sharp question!

The First Emperor raised his eyes, pointed at a line in a memorial, and frowned:

"Each commandery has submitted the woolen garments they wove. Longxi's woolen garments are called 'woven hides.' Shangjun and Daibei's woolen garments are called 'felt coats.' However, the woolen garments submitted by the Wushi clan of Beidi Commandery are called 'Hengyuanxiang.' Wushi Luo says it was you who named them. What is the meaning of this?"

Heifu decided that from now on, he would never again recklessly play with memes to amuse himself.

But at present, he could only begin to fabricate the meaning of these three characters on the spot, barely managing to muddle through.

"'Heng' means enduring; 'Yuan' means the source of a spring; 'Xiang' means good fortune, derived from the 'shi' radical and the sound of 'sheep.' These three characters combined imply that the woolen garment is clean and odorless like the source of living water, can be worn enduringly without wearing out, and brings fortune to the wearer..."

Heifu was even impressed with himself; this whole load of nonsense actually sounded somewhat reasonable!

Although the First Emperor was skeptical, he merely attributed it to Heifu's humble origins — despite diligent study later in life, he often came out with slang and twisted phrases that the upper class could not understand, and did not find it strange. Following this matter, he began to discuss the war supplies being prepared by each commandery.

Unlike in the past, for this campaign in the north, woolen garments had become a new strategic reserve. Wushi Luo described it thus: the lands of the Hu and the Mo are places where yin accumulates, where tree bark is three inches thick and ice is six feet deep. One must eat meat, drink fermented milk, and drape oneself in the thick fur of birds and beasts to withstand the cold. If people from the Central Plains go there in spring and summer, it is still manageable, but if they overwinter there, unable to adapt to the climate and environment, perhaps three or four out of ten will die...

Although the scheduled start date for the war was late spring to early summer, the territory to be attacked in this campaign was vast. If the war could not be concluded in one vigorous push, it might drag on into the following year. Even if they occupied Beijia and Henan, a large number of troops would have to remain to garrison. The problem of their winter survival could not be left unconsidered.

Fur coats were too expensive, so woolen garments became the best choice. Now, not only Longxi Commandery, but several other border commanderies had introduced the Qiang sheep, using techniques developed by the Privy Treasury to begin raising them, shearing wool, and weaving cloth. Last year, Longxi produced 3,000 garments, Beidi produced 1,000, and Shangjun and Daibei each produced 500.

Output had doubled compared to the year before, but the First Emperor still felt it was too slow. Thus, every commandery was desperately trying to find ways to increase production.

Longxi Commandery, relying on being closest to Huangzhong, the original habitat of the Qiang sheep, continuously expanded its scale by raiding or buying, and even began purchasing wool from the Qiang people.

Beidi, needless to say, under Heifu's suggestion, Wushi Luo began to view wool spinning as his clan's pillar industry for the future, buying Qiang sheep in large quantities and bringing them into the commandery. Heifu's wife, Lady Ye, suggested mobilizing the vast numbers of women: the Rong people raise the sheep, the Xia women weave the cloth, forming a mutually beneficial cycle between the Hua and the Rong.

Shangjun and the three commanderies of Daibei started late and were far from the production areas, so they set their sights on sheep breeds. In Meng Tian's memorial, it was mentioned that a wealthy sheep-herding householder named Ban Yi, who had migrated from Chu to Yanmen Commandery, was leading dozens of shepherd boys under him, attempting to crossbreed the fine-wooled Qiang sheep with the local coarse-wooled sheep, hoping to produce a breed suitable for shearing and weaving...

All of this was to fulfill the First Emperor's demand: next year, the woolen garment output of each commandery must double again! Even so, among the 150,000 soldiers on the northern expedition, less than one in ten would be able to wear a woolen garment, let alone the civilian laborers...

Besides winter clothing for keeping warm, there was also grain. The First Emperor had already ordered the Superintendent of Grain, one of the Nine Ministers, to prepare military provisions. By the start of spring next year, they could roughly amass enough to feed 300,000 people for a year: five million dan!

"Longxi Commandery's military grain can be procured locally. Daibei's military grain will be requisitioned from Taiyuan and Hedong. Beidi and Shangjun will be supplied from Guanzhong."

The advantage of campaigning near the Guanzhong region became apparent here. By late spring to early summer, the 15,000 civilian laborers assigned to Beidi Commandery would set out from the fertile Guanzhong, from granaries like the Zhengguo Canal, escorting military grain and convict laborers, trekking all the way to Beidi Commandery to report. They would be led by county commandants, patrol chiefs, and village heads, just as many years ago, Heifu had led his young brothers from Anlu onto the path of campaign...

Three hundred thousand levied men journey into the desert; the next year, how many shall return?

Heifu did not know whether his early instigation of this war was a good or bad thing for them.

"I can only hope that this campaign will pacify the northern frontier in one stroke, allowing the Qin people to put down deep roots in Henan and Beijia, and create a Central Plains beyond the frontier..."

At this moment, the First Emperor suddenly brought up another matter.

"We have heard it said: First know the hardship of sowing and reaping, then one may know ease."

"Yet the princes and grandsons of our house have never witnessed the lifting of a clod of earth or the weeding of a single sprout. They know not which month to sow, which month to reap. How then can they understand the myriad affairs of the world?"

"The same holds true for military matters. If one only hears reports of distant victories, and has never marched out with the great army, heard the shaking of gongs and drums that rock the heavens, or watched the beacon smoke billow, how can one know the hardship of warfare, and understand the necessity of driving the Xiongnu from the north?"

"These are all things that Fusu needs to know."

Heifu immediately perked up. He knew that the meat of this imperial summons had arrived!

(End of chapter)