Chapter 435: Young Master Fusu

"We marched to the eastern hills, long, long with no return. Coming back from the east, the drizzling rain made all things dim. When in the east we spoke of going home, our hearts here in the west were full of sorrow…"

On the crisscross-gullied yellow-earth plateau, Young Master Fusu stood atop a loess rise, jade pendants at his waist chiming softly. Gazing at the column of Guandong laborers stretching nearly ten li through the mountain pass — men bearing loads on shoulders and carrying them by hand, their faces etched with misery — he could not help but recite this poem, "The Eastern Hills" from the Odes of Bin.

"I have heard that Qi County was Southern Bin, and Beidi Commandery was Northern Bin — both ancient lands of Zhou. The Duke of Zhou led the western men on an eastern campaign; the western men marched to the eastern hills and longed for their western homeland. Now, eastern men are conscripted for labor in the west. Just like the Zhou soldiers of old, they toil on the march, eat in the wind, sleep in the open, rest beside the carts and wagons — like the mulberry worms that bake under the sun in the fourth month."

Having grown up witnessing his mother neglected until her death, the Chu in-laws on his mother's side all suppressed and banished, and his maternal uncle, Lord Changping, ultimately betray Qin and die a miserable death — all these things had shaped in Fusu a disposition prone to melancholy and compassion.

This time, serving as army supervisor, he was escorting fifteen thousand laborers into Beidi. Along the way, Fusu had truly witnessed the conscripted men's suffering. Listening to complaints in different dialects, observing their pain with his own eyes, Fusu truly felt the misery this war had brought upon them.

Only after the busy farming season of the second month had largely ended were the laborers summoned from the various commanderies. In the third month they assembled in Guanzhong, and by the fourth month they had to reach the borderlands. Though Fusu could not help but remonstrate with his imperial father, saying this was far too rushed, in the First Emperor of Qin's eyes, there was only the great war about to come, only the vast territory waiting to be opened up. He cared nothing for whether the laborers lived or died, regarding it merely as necessary attrition.

Fusu, however, shook his head to himself. He did not believe that human lives could be treated as simple expendables, like arrows or livestock.

Watching the laborers march day after day under the blazing sun, many of them unable to adapt to the local climate, plagued by illness, collapsing and dying at a rate of several men per day before they had even reached Xiao Pass — Fusu could not help but worry. By the time this war was over, of the laborers alone, he feared one or two in ten would never return to the east.

After Fusu had voiced his lament, someone beside him immediately chimed in: "That the Young Master can understand the heart of the conscripted soldier in the poem — truly, this is a benevolent gentleman."

It was a middle-aged man in a loose robe with wide sleeves, a sword at his waist. Though the heat had drenched his head in sweat, his collar remained tightly fastened shut.

His name was Chunyu Yue, a scholar and Erudite of the Confucian school whom Young Master Fusu kept by his side for consultation.

On the other side, another man nodded and said: "Master Mozi also once said: 'Because the roads are so long and far, provisions are cut off and cannot keep up, and the common people who die are beyond counting. And those who, from unsettled dwelling, irregular meals, and extremes of hunger and satiety, fall ill and die among the common people — these too are beyond counting.' This is why the Mohists condemn offensive war."

This was Tang Duo, a Mohist whom Heifu had once briefly encountered years ago in Yangcheng County. Three years ago, he had also helped Heifu improve the papermaking technique, and now he too had become a retainer of Fusu's.

Just then, a commotion rose from below. Another laborer had collapsed from exhaustion on the road — the tenth person since they had set out today.

But the Qin clerks had no intention of stopping. They ordered the onlookers to carry the man to the roadside and splash some water on him. If he could be revived, he would keep walking; if he could not be saved, then let him die right there — just dig a random pit and bury him!

Fusu could bear to watch no longer. He descended from the high loess rise and issued an order to the Qin clerks and soldiers who were driving the laborers forward with such brutal ferocity:

"Halt! Carry the collapsed man into the shade and have my physician examine him! The rest of the laborers — rest where you are!"

"Young Master, think twice!"

The Colonel, having rushed over at the news, remonstrated: "This is an imperial conscription, bound for beyond the frontier. The march cannot be halted for exhaustion. If we stop every time a man collapses, I fear we will not arrive on time…"

"I remember this ordinance."

Young Master Fusu, however, said: "'If one is too weary to march, the officer in charge shall be fined two suits of armor.' Let the clerk record this: on the third day of the fourth month of the twenty-ninth year, Fusu, acting on his own will, made the laborers rest — fine him two suits of armor!"

As he spoke, he gestured for his attendants to go fetch the money.

The clerk was deeply embarrassed, caught between recording it and not recording it. Since the army-supervising Young Master had spoken thus, the Colonel too was helpless and could only say:

"Young Master, His Majesty has decreed that the campaign must begin in the fifth month. If the laborers are not delivered to the border fortifications in time before then, even the Young Master will not escape punishment. I beg the Young Master not to make things too difficult for this humble officer!"

Fusu, with equal solemnity, bowed to the Colonel with clasped hands: "My thanks to the Colonel. Fusu has his own calculations. We will certainly reach Yiqu City by the tenth day of the fourth month, and arrive at the border in the fifth month — not a single day late."

"This humble officer dares not accept such courtesy."

Seeing the resolute look in the Young Master's eyes, the Colonel sighed and went to arrange for everyone to stop, drink water, and rest.

The long serpent halted its advance. When the laborers learned that it was the Young Master who had shown them this grace, and that he had arranged for the collapsed man to be treated, praise rose from all sides, spoken in the dialects of many different regions:

"The Young Master is worthy and wise!"

Chunyu Yue and Tang Duo, who were attending Fusu, saw this scene and could not help but exchange a smile — but then immediately turned their faces away from each other.

Their schools of thought had been mortal enemies for centuries. Yet, strangely enough, the Confucian Chunyu Yue and the Qin Mohist Tang Duo — these two men had, without prior agreement, both chosen to follow Fusu and accompany him to the frontier…

What the Mohists saw in him was that Young Master Fusu had been frugal and benevolent from childhood, and had always strongly remonstrated against the First Emperor's grand palace-building projects and reckless border provocations. The Qin Mohists, who had been disappointed that after Qin's unification the empire had failed to practice "condemn offensive war" and "universal love," seemed to see hope in this worthy young master!

As for Chunyu Yue, he was a restorationist. Although the First Emperor employed Confucians as Erudites, he did not put them to significant use, and he sneered at their remonstrations advocating a return to the old feudal enfeoffment system. Fusu was different. Raised from childhood by the Grand Empress Dowager Huayang, he had studied the Odes and Documents and had a certain interest in Confucian learning.

Seeing that the Legalist school held sole dominance at the Qin court, and that the Emperor had absolutely no intention of changing course in the short term, the two men had simply chosen to stay by Young Master Fusu's side, hoping to gradually exert their influence…

Each harbored his own designs. At this moment, Fusu had also returned to his own carriage. He had someone open the map to see how far they still were from Yiju Township in Niyang County, where they were to arrive tonight.

"Twenty li still remain. The Commandant of Beidi is already waiting in this township…"

After all, he was the empire's eldest young master, different from an ordinary army supervisor. Heifu would have no choice but to lower his stance and come wait at Beidi's gateway. But Fusu was kind-hearted and could not bear to force the laborers to hurry. They had been expected to reach Yiju the day before yesterday, yet had been delayed until now.

Fusu looked at the laborers, who were falling asleep the moment they sat on the ground, then glanced at the darkening sky and frowned. "I fear we will not arrive until tomorrow."

He then asked the Mohist Tang Duo: "Master Tang, you have said that you worked together with the Commandant during the Chu campaign, and that the Mohist Master Cheng is even closer to him, their friendship deep and reciprocal. What kind of man do you think this Commandant of Beidi is?"

Tang Duo thought for a moment and said: "I still remember the circumstances of my first meeting with Commandant Heifu. At that time, my uncle, Master Tang, had brought me and Cheng Shang to Yangcheng to see the place where Meng Sheng and one hundred eighty Mohists once died for their principles. Cheng Shang and I got into an argument."

"I held that Meng Sheng acted according to the Mohist code of righteousness, and that it was thanks to this deed that all under Heaven could trust the Mohists. Cheng Shang said it was nothing more than Meng Sheng's personal bond with the Lord of Yangcheng, and that it was because of this very deed that the Mohist school thereafter declined."

"At the time, Commandant Heifu was merely a junior centurion. After listening, he said that in the two months he had been stationed at Yangcheng, this was the first he had ever heard of Meng Sheng's story. The local people, he said, had already forgotten that the Mohists had once defended this city… Instead, there was a little-known bailiff of Yangcheng from two hundred years ago who had built a water canal for the common people. The people remembered his virtue and had built a shrine for that bailiff, where they offered sacrifices every year without fail." (See Chapter 172)

"He asked us in return: why could the common people remember a minor bailiff from over two hundred years ago, yet forget the Mohist Grand Master from just over a hundred years ago?"

Tang Duo still remembered, to this day, the words Heifu had spoken with a faint smile.

"He felt that it was not that Meng Sheng's righteousness was inferior to that bailiff's, but rather that the righteousness Meng Sheng practiced had never brought benefit to the local common people. Even though over one hundred men went to their deaths, shocking the kingdom of Chu and becoming renowned throughout the world, making the feudal lords sigh with regret — it would not leave a deep impression on the local people. At most, after two or three generations, it would all be forgotten. The bailiff's canal, on the other hand, had continuously bestowed its blessings upon the people. As long as the canal was in use for a single day, no one would forget."

"'Righteousness that bestows blessings upon the common people — that is the righteousness that endures, the righteousness that the common people will remember…'"

Fusu nodded. "Well said. Even in his humble beginnings, Commandant Heifu spoke with uncommon insight. No wonder, after coming to Guanzhong, he has often made startling remarks."

Chunyu Yue, however, gave a cold laugh. "Uncommon, perhaps — but in recent years, what this Commandant Heifu has done is the exact opposite of what he said that day. Is that not a glaring contradiction?"

Fusu asked, "How is it the opposite?"

Chunyu Yue said, "My impression of this man stems from the time His Majesty ordered the various ministers to debate enfeoffment versus the commandery-county system."

Like the other Confucians, Chunyu Yue was a die-hard proponent of the feudal system, desperately hoping that the Qin dynasty would restore feudalism and let the various young masters be enfeoffed to guard the four corners of the realm. But the First Emperor had resolutely decided to abolish feudalism and implement the commandery-county system, which had greatly disappointed him.

Yet compared to the Legalists and Mohists, who likewise supported commanderies and counties, his loathing for Heifu, who had advocated "parallel commanderies and kingdoms," was even greater.

"Why is that? Was not Commandant Heifu's proposal the very 'doctrine of the mean' that the Confucian school approves of?"

Fusu did not understand his meaning. In his eyes, parallel commanderies and kingdoms was not a bad compromise.

Chunyu Yue said, "In conducting oneself in the world, to be able to maneuver left and right, to be smooth and slick in all directions, to neither disobey the imperial will above nor offend the assembled ministers below, to never go to extremes, to never stand out, and to put forward proposals that split the difference — this is in fact not the 'doctrine of the mean,' but what Confucius called the 'village worthy'!"

"The village worthy is one who outwardly appears sincere and honest, but in reality drifts with the vulgar current and wallows in the mire — a hypocrite without true moral integrity! It is precisely because he is this kind of man that he repeatedly guesses at the sovereign's intentions and goads His Majesty into opening up the western frontiers."

Western expansion was indeed Heifu's initiative, but the Confucians from east of the mountains had not the slightest interest in the unfamiliar northwest. They even felt that this national policy was delaying their efforts to urge the First Emperor to perform the sacrifices at Mount Tai and incorporate them into the Confucian feng and shan ritual system.

Chunyu Yue continued mercilessly: "In my view, this Commandant Heifu has likely forgotten those words he once spoke, clean and clear. What has he done that benefits the people? He has merely borrowed the name of opening up territory for His Majesty to gain promotion and rank for himself, to increase his own wealth and status! I grant that he has some talent, but Confucius said: 'There are men today who are neither loyal, trustworthy, earnest, nor honest, yet are full of knowledge and ability. Such men are like jackals and wolves — you must not let them near your person!' The Young Master must be exceedingly careful!"

Tang Duo's senior fellow apprentice, Cheng Shang, had a good relationship with Heifu and a favorable impression of him, so he retorted:

"Master Chunyu's words are mistaken. When Commandant Heifu was a Gentleman Guard, he proposed that the Minister of the Interior build mills and widely plant winter wheat to relieve the famine of the migrants from east of the mountains. When he was Assistant Director of the Lesser Treasury, he supervised the manufacture of paper — hemp paper and bark paper have now spread throughout the land; not only are official documents easier to produce, but even copying books among the common people has become much more convenient. Now, as Commandant, he is raising sheep and spinning cloth in the borderlands. Although it is currently used only by the army, sooner or later it will clothe the north and let the common people escape the suffering of frost and cold. Are these not things of great benefit to the people?"

Chunyu Yue snorted disdainfully: "Barbarian sheepskin furs, corrupting the robes and caps of our Huaxia — this is no great benefit, but a great harm indeed!"

Tang Duo flared up. Their Mohist school were supporters of promoting wool clothing, so he jabbed a finger at Chunyu Yue's nose and cursed: "Pedantic Confucian!"

Chunyu Yue simply flicked his sleeve: "Foolish Mohist!"

Though the two men served Fusu together and admired his humane and benevolent character, his courtesy toward the worthy and diligence toward the learned, on issues such as enfeoffment versus commandery-county systems, their disagreements were also extreme; a single discordant word often led to mutual quarrels.

"Gentlemen, please desist!"

But Fusu put a stop to the pair's daily routine. He gazed into the distance, where at the road's end a mounted escort flying a banner bearing the character "Wei" was slowly approaching; wherever it passed, the corvée laborers and garrison conscripts all solemnly rose to their feet.

He said: "I fear Commandant Wei, unable to wait for me any longer, has come in person…"

The two men promptly shut their mouths. Fusu meticulously straightened the lapels of his robe, watched the mounted escort draw nearer and nearer, and thought to himself: "The ancients said, 'A bow and arrow must be harmoniously tuned before one seeks to hit the mark; a man must be loyal, trustworthy, and solidly virtuous before one seeks his knowledge and ability.'"

"'The method of selecting men is this: observe their words and examine their deeds. Words are that by which one pours out one's heart and expresses one's true feelings. A man capable of action must be capable of speech. Therefore, first observe his words and measure them against his deeds. By measuring words against deeds, even if there is a treacherous schemer, he will have no way to conceal his true feelings.'"

"Is the Commandant of Beidi Commandery a man who holds great righteousness in his heart, or a hypocritical, sycophantic petty villain? On this journey beyond the frontier as army supervisor, I shall have ample opportunity to probe the truth!"

(End of chapter)