Chapter 437: The Neighbor

They say pregnancy makes you dumb for three years — Hei Fu never believed it before, but he believes it now. Ever since the baby came, his wife really has gotten a little sillier…

She used to be meticulous, but now her mind is filled only with her son. She can spend half a shichen just gazing at the baby, mother and child staring at each other and giggling foolishly. She often forgets little things, and even says things to Hei Fu that the clever, sharp woman she once was would never have said.

For example, today Hei Fu is about to set off north again. As she personally strapped on his armor, she actually went on and on with this advice: "Even if the young master delays the army provisions again, my husband, do not punish him in front of everyone. Just report the facts back to His Majesty for a decision. And above all, do not repeat what Sima Rangju did!"

What Ye Zijin meant by "what Sima Rangju did" refers to the Spring and Autumn period, when Duke Jing of Qi appointed Sima Rangju as general and also sent his favorite minister Zhuang Jia as army supervisor. Sima Rangju and Zhuang Jia agreed to assemble at the camp gate at noon the next day and set out.

In the end, Zhuang Jia drank until the afternoon of the following day before arriving. So Sima Rangju invoked military law, had his head chopped off on the spot, and announced it to the three armies to establish his authority. The officers and soldiers were all terrified.

Duke Jing of Qi was shocked by the news and sent a messenger to stop it. But the messenger drove his chariot into the camp without permission and had his horses galloping before the troops. Sima Rangju declared that by law this was also punishable by beheading, but considering the messenger was on the sovereign's business, he only beheaded the messenger's chariot-right guard…

"Duke Jing needed Sima Rangju to repel the enemy, so he didn't make trouble for him to his face. But years later, once Sima Rangju was old and useless, Duke Jing dismissed him. Rangju fell ill from the disgrace and died…"

In Ye Zijin's view, the First Emperor sending the eldest young master, Fusu, to supervise the Northern Army might look like a sign of trust in Hei Fu, but in reality it was a huge problem.

The First Emperor of Qin has been on the throne for over three years, and Fusu has been capped for a year, yet he still hasn't been named crown prince. That sends an unusual signal.

Speculation about this has been rife in the imperial court for quite some time. Some think the Emperor desires immortality and therefore has no need to name an heir. Others believe that since Fusu's mother's family is the Chu royal house, and his maternal uncle, Lord Changping, once betrayed the state and even became King of Chu — earning the First Emperor's loathing — Fusu has already lost any chance of succession. Still others are convinced that the First Emperor simply doesn't care much for Fusu's character and wants to temper him further. Opportunists hoping to get close to Fusu to achieve their own ends are not few in number.

But Ye Zijin sees this as a line that must never be crossed. The Emperor is still in his prime, and a border general befriending a young master is a grave taboo. Even though the First Emperor himself assigned Fusu to the north for tempering, Hei Fu must keep an appropriate distance — not getting too close, but also not offending him and creating enmity.

Hei Fu couldn't help rolling his eyes. "Is your husband really that stupid?"

"Besides, Sima Rangju did that to establish his authority. I have no need to go that far."

"Didn't my husband, just days ago, rebuke the young master in front of soldiers and civilian laborers for arriving late, and lecture him on military doctrine?"

She even worried that this incident might have already angered the eldest young master, and that he might have quietly taken it to heart!

Hei Fu had no choice but to comfort his wife: "He may be somewhat kind-hearted, but he's not the sort of petty young master who can't take advice."

Ye Zijin shook her head. "My husband has only met the eldest young master a few times. With shallow acquaintance and deep words, how can you be so certain what kind of person he is?"

At his wife's words, Hei Fu recalled what had happened several days ago when Fusu and those fifteen thousand civilian laborers arrived at Yiqu City…

…

A young master serving as army supervisor is different from an ordinary minister doing so. With the eldest young master gracing Yiqu City with his presence, the Commandery Governor, Commandery Assistant, and Supervising Censor could hardly avoid hosting a banquet to receive him.

Though Fusu is benevolent by nature, he was raised with a young master's education from childhood — his bearing was proper, his speech without fault. He even took the initiative to ask Hei Fu to take him to pay respects at the Meritorious Temple, the Pacify-the-Frontier Shrine, and the Loyal Soldiers' Cemetery.

The Pacify-the-Frontier Shrine and the Loyal Soldiers' Cemetery were Hei Fu's handiwork. Starting in Nan Commandery and completed in Beidi, they have now spread throughout Guanzhong and the border commanderies. The Meritorious Temple, on the other hand, was something Li Si suggested. For now it exists only west of the Pass, enshrining Shang Yang, Zhang Yi, Bai Qi, Meng Ao, and other generals and ministers who made outstanding contributions to Great Qin's unification enterprise. But for the time being, only these few have been admitted to the temple — the merits and faults of men like Gan Mao, Wei Ran, and Fan Ju are still under debate.

This is also the First Emperor's way of maintaining balance between Qin and the people of the former six states. The Pacify-the-Frontier Shrine restored the reputation of enemy generals like Li Mu, while the Meritorious Temple caters to the needs of Qin's military-merit aristocracy. After Wang Jian passes away, he will certainly be admitted. Hei Fu secretly guessed that the Commandant of Justice, Li Si, surely hopes he too can enter the temple after his death.

Hei Fu had heard that the young master Fusu is much admired by the Mohists. He seems to have absorbed the Mohist ideas of frugal burials, opposition to offensive war, and universal love — ideas that oppose warfare — as well as the Huang-Lao principle of giving the people rest. Yet when paying respects at the Pacify-the-Frontier Shrine, he set aside his personal likes and dislikes and conducted himself in a thoroughly official manner, by the book, without the slightest hint of disrespect…

Only after the rites were over did Fusu speak to Hei Fu privately about a certain matter. This was their first in-depth conversation after that minor clash on the road.

Fusu said: "Following Commandant Wei's suggestion, my Imperial Father ordered that before every army contingent sets out, officials are to lead the soldiers and civilian laborers in paying respects at the Pacify-the-Frontier Shrine, recounting the deeds of the five worthies of antiquity who defended the Huaxia and expanded the frontiers. The soldiers west of the Pass, who live intermingled with the Rong and Di, were deeply moved when they heard the stories of You Yu and Sima Cuo. The fifty thousand civilian laborers from Yan and Zhao who are heading to Daibei to transport grain were also somewhat stirred when they heard of Li Mu and Qin Kai. But the one hundred thousand civilian laborers from the Central Plains had hardly any reaction — nine out of ten hadn't even heard the names of these five men."

This is indeed an awkward problem for the Pacify-the-Frontier Shrine. It can stir the people of Yan, Zhao, and Qin — the three places that once bordered the Hu and Rong and suffered bitterly from their raids — to share a common hatred against the enemy in this war against the Xiongnu, and to grumble less about the court's conscription of laborers.

But to the ears of people from Wei, Han, and Chu, their faces were written all over with two questions: Who are these five? And what the hell does fighting the Hu have to do with me?

"So in the eyes of the people from those three lands, they see this as nothing more than bitter forced labor…"

Hei Fu could only sigh at this. At the time, he had thought of picking one person from each state, but unfortunately Han, situated in the Central Plains, had never had any chance to fight foreign tribes. Wei did have an ancestor — Wei Xianzi, Wei Shu — who had once fought the Rong people, but his achievements couldn't compare with those five, and how could ordinary Wei people possibly know who Wei Shu was?

Chu was the same. Although Chu seized a great deal of Yue territory in the south, it was all gradual encroachment, with no single decisive achievement. At most they could include Wu Qi, who conquered Yangyue in the south and built Lili Gate Fortress. But the court grandees considered Wu Qi unqualified — he wasn't even a man of Chu, and his reputation within Chu wasn't very good either…

So for now, it had to stay as it was.

The question Fusu raised was very pointed, so Hei Fu decided to speak frankly about the fundamental reason for this war.

"Young master, Hei Fu understands your point. The people of the Central Plains do not comprehend the suffering of the border regions, because in the past the Central Plains and the border regions belonged to separate states. When a neighboring state was raided by the Hu, the Central Plains people would sigh a few words of pity upon hearing of it, but they would soon forget, and they certainly didn't feel they had any duty to repel the invaders together with the people of that neighboring state. But this is like a neighbor's house catching fire — if you don't help put it out, your own house is in danger. If the entire building burns down, if the Hu horsemen reach the banks of the Great River, then it will be the Central Plains' turn to suffer. By then, the desperate thread by which the Central Kingdom hung centuries ago may well reappear."

This is no mere conjecture — it is a prophecy!

"The Hu are the great scourge of the Central Lands. It is precisely because His Majesty has pondered this that he resolved to annihilate the Xiongnu in one stroke, to nip disaster in the bud. It is not purely for the sake of expanding the frontier and flaunting his achievements."

"Now, all within the Four Seas are united, and everyone under Heaven is a subject under the First Emperor's rule. The statutes say that every person who has reached the age of seventeen and been registered for corvée has the duty to serve the state in labor or garrison duty. That is why His Majesty has conscripted three hundred thousand men for this campaign against the Xiongnu — one hundred fifty thousand from Guanzhong as combat troops, and one hundred fifty thousand from east of the Pass as civilian laborers. Whether the laborers can grasp the meaning of this war or not, whether they are willing to march north or not, the law of the land is the law of the land, and not the slightest negligence is tolerated. What's more, even if they didn't go to the frontier, they would still have to serve their corvée in Xianyang."

Soldiers need grain to eat and must focus on fighting. In this age, there are no trains or trucks to haul things — logistics can only rely on men and beasts.

Civilian laborers absolutely had to be conscripted. If they conscripted only Qin people from west of the Pass, the burden on them would be too heavy, and they would surely think: Didn't you say that guarding the frontier is the duty of all under Heaven? Why is it that Qin people do all the fighting and grain-hauling, while the people east of the Pass only have to do a bit of brick-carrying in Xianyang?

By then, the ones whose complaints fill the roads would not be east of the Pass, but west of the Pass!

Qin destroyed the six states, and Qin soldiers trampled the palaces of the six states flat. Of course they have a conqueror's mentality — that won't disappear in a short time. And their advantages in policy and status will also persist for a very long time.

This is the reality before us. For those who govern, keeping this bowl of water level is no easy task. Achieving true unity of hearts and minds is harder still.

This is also the reason Hei Fu strongly advocated for military action against the Xiongnu. To achieve national unity, you either resist foreign humiliation together, or you expand outward and reap the dividends of war.

"Perhaps after this war ends, when men of the east and men of the west are both settled on the frontier to farm and garrison, facing the Rong and Di beyond the border together — only then will they set aside the old hatreds and fight side by side, blades in hand…" he thought to himself.

"What Commandant Wei means is that for those who possess a state or a household, the worry is not scarcity but inequality…"

Hearing this speech from Hei Fu, Fusu seemed lost in thought. Finally he shook his head. "Fusu has learned something. But I believe that a balance achieved by making the common people unsettled is no true balance! Though the border Hu are a hidden danger, they dare not invade in force. Would it not be more proper to let the realm rest for ten years before raising arms again and discussing westward expansion and frontier pacification?"

Fusu had finally spoken his mind. The realm is not yet settled, the common people not yet gathered — to use troops on a large scale at this moment is in fact brewing unrest!

Hei Fu was not about to carry that pot. He said: "Has the young master not heard the song of the old Qin folk from Yong? 'Rather garrison the northern frontier than do corvée in Jiangnan!' Forgive my bluntness, but if there is no westward expansion, then there will be a southern campaign. And when that time comes, what the civilian laborers of the Central Plains will face is not roads with finished straightways and expressways, nor the frontier where they can regret not having a wool coat to wear, but Lingnan — a land choked with miasma and crawling with water parasites. The number of men who collapse dead by the roadside will likely be ten times greater…"

"Choosing the lesser of two evils?"

Fusu suddenly understood. The decision for war, in the final analysis, was issued by his Imperial Father. Around this time the year before last, the First Emperor had indeed been strongly inclined to use troops in Lingnan, and it was only after being drawn in by Hei Fu's westward expansion proposal that he changed course.

"Fusu has spoken out of turn."

With that, he let out a sigh, clasped his hands, and withdrew. Whether he truly understood or not was hard to say…

He had only walked a few steps before he turned back and said with a solemn expression: "Please rest assured, Commandant Wei. After we march beyond the frontier tomorrow, for the duration of my supervision of the army, Fusu will not be late even once!"

Recalling it now, Hei Fu thought to himself: "This young master has the look of someone who grieves for the world and pities its people. He treats others with kindness, dislikes Legalism in politics, and instead favors Huang-Lao, Confucian, and Mohist ideas. Even more exaggerated, he actually cares about the common people east of the Pass. If it's genuine, his character is the polar opposite of the Emperor's, and he doesn't bother to hide it in the slightest — practically a political idiot. No wonder the First Emperor doesn't care for him…"

If, as Ye Zijin fears, all of this is an act, then that would be truly terrifying.

He shook his head and cast these thoughts aside.

"Didn't my wife say that to judge a person, you must observe their words and examine their deeds? What kind of man the young master truly is — once we are beyond the frontier, we'll see for ourselves!"

Is he a true gentleman, or a hypocrite?

Can he become the resolute, decisive, ruthless man the First Emperor hopes for, or will he cling to his ideals of benevolence, love, and magnanimity?

Hei Fu will heed his wife's advice and keep an appropriate distance. As for whether he changes or not — that will depend on his own fortune.

As he thought this, Heifu pulled his wife and son into his arms and gave each a kiss.

"I'm heading beyond the frontier again!"

He looked at his son, who had been pricked by his stubble and was now wailing loudly, and broke into a smile.

"Last time, it was my wife who prayed for my safety with an embroidered pouch. This time, my son's name has been added as a blessing too."

Heifu hugged his son tightly again and said, with reluctance:

"Isn't that right? Wei Polu!"

(End of chapter)