Chapter 46: Looking Down on People Through a Crack in the Gate

"Second Brother, you're the one who wants to study the laws and ordinances — why drag me along?"

Jing was holding a bamboo basket with four strips of dried meat inside, his face full of reluctance.

He'd just gotten a new sword and was itching to show it off in front of his companions, but then Second Brother came to Bian Village to study the laws under the old clerk Yan Zheng, and insisted on dragging him along no matter what.

"You come when I tell you to come. Where do you get all this nonsense?"

Heifu shot Jing a glare — he had his reasons for bringing Jing along — then clasped his hands and asked a farmer by the roadside, "May I ask, where does Elder Yan live?"

This "Heifu" had learned to read and write from old Master Lü Ying of Xiyang Village; it was his eldest brother who had come to Bian Village to study under Yan Zheng, so Heifu did not know the man's residence.

Fortunately, this Yan Zheng was very well-known in Bian Village — there was no one who didn't know him — and the very first person they asked pointed them the way.

"Keep going straight. Past the bamboo grove, the house with the high walls and tiled eaves, the one with the red-lacquered gate — that's Elder Yan's home."

A bian is a utensil woven from bamboo strips: round with a flat bottom and a very shallow rim, used for raising silkworms, holding grain, and the like. Bian Village got its name because bamboo is abundant in this area, and every household weaves bian baskets.

The Heifu brothers followed the directions and walked straight ahead. In front of every house, bian baskets were laid out drying in the sun. Then they passed through several mu of bamboo groves; though it was deep winter and many of the bamboo leaves had yellowed, the stalks were still green, straight, and crisp, their branches intertwining in a pleasing, orderly density.

Jing said regretfully, "If it were around the Start of Autumn, we could definitely dig up some winter bamboo shoots, then feel around the river for a fish, and cook them together... Ow! Second Brother, you hit me again."

Heifu rapped him on the head. "Stop thinking about food all day. If you behave yourself today, do as I say, and don't run your mouth, I'll give you fifty cash to eat whatever you want."

"You mean it?" Jing's face lit up like a child who'd just been promised candy.

As they spoke, they arrived before a large residence. The walls were a full zhang high, coated in white lime and topped with brand-new tile caps. The main gate was painted a dazzling red lacquer, wide enough for three people to walk through side by side.

Judging by its exterior alone — never mind Heifu's own house, which couldn't compare — even the village chief's and the field clerk's homes in their own village fell far short. One look told you this was a household of wealth or rank.

Heifu thought to himself, Thank goodness, besides the four strips of dried meat, I also wrapped up a hundred cash. Even so, this little tuition gift still looks shabby — Yan Zheng probably won't think much of it.

He straightened his clothes and began knocking at the gate.

After a long while, the gate finally creaked open a crack. A servant in black clothes peered out through the narrow gap. Seeing two commoners, he asked curtly.

"Who are you people? Who are you looking for? What business do you have?"

Heifu bowed with clasped hands. "I am Heifu, a Gongshi of Xiyang Village. I wish to seek out Lord Yan to inquire about matters of law and ordinance. I would be grateful if you would announce me."

"Another one here to ask about the laws..."

The servant looked the Heifu brothers up and down. He had seen plenty of mud-legged folk like them — most had family members who'd run afoul of some law, gotten into legal trouble, and come seeking Lord Yan's help.

Heifu at least was no longer in the coarse hemp clothes of two months ago; he wore new garments bought just last month, and Jing behind him was dressed cleanly enough. Yet in this servant's eyes, it was as if they bore some stain upon them.

"Wait here. I'll go ask the master."

The red-lacquered gate slammed shut with a bang.

Jing said indignantly, "That servant — his face is pure gloom, like we owe him money. And how long has it been since he stepped outside? Bian Village is right next to Xiyang Village, yet he doesn't even know Second Brother's name?"

"What little reputation I have can only spread among the marketplace folk. It can't catch the eye of officials and clerks."

Heifu saw things clearly. His few exploits were only good for boasting before ordinary soldiers and commoners. To someone like Yan Zheng — an old clerk holding the rank of Bugeng, who had once served as an official in the township and the county, a man who had seen the world — such things were beneath notice.

Besides, today he was here to ask a favor, and the other party was an elder. Lowering his posture was only proper.

Jing, however, kept grumbling. If only old Master Lü Ying of Xiyang Village hadn't gone to the county seat, he said — that old man actually knew their family, and they wouldn't have to be so meek and deferential.

They waited again for a long while. Jing's feet went numb from standing; he paced back and forth impatiently. Only then did the gate finally open once more. It was the same servant. He gave them a cold look and said, "Follow me in."

Heifu made a silencing gesture at Jing, and the two of them followed the servant through the gate.

Once inside the Yan residence, Heifu immediately noticed that this household was not nearly as splendid as it appeared from the outside — in fact, it was quite ordinary. West of the entrance were the stables and the chicken roost; to the east, a vegetable patch had been dug along the wall, divided into several sections by earthen ridges and planted with scallions and chives. Straight ahead stood a main hall, likely used for receiving guests.

But the servant did not lead them into the main hall. Instead, he took them around it, along a corridor, to a smaller building. This was probably the study, because through the window lattice they could see bookshelves on three of the interior walls, all filled with scroll upon scroll of bamboo slips and wooden tablets.

Though Yan Zheng no longer held office, during his tenure he had copied out a great many laws and ordinances. While he couldn't compare to that Judge Xi, his collection was still the largest in Yunmeng Township — which was precisely why Heifu had sought him out.

The Heifu brothers were about to step inside when the servant pulled them back. He glared, shook his head, and pointed at the door threshold, making the two brothers stand outside...

Clearly, they were not being treated as guests. They had no right to ascend the hall and enter the room. The servant was even afraid — afraid that the breath these two exhaled would displease the master, afraid that their muddy shoes would soil the clean floor...

Jing was already trembling with anger, but Heifu told him to keep his temper in check.

The door curtain was drawn aside. The Yan Zheng whom Heifu sought was seated inside this very study. He was quite advanced in years, sixty or seventy, with a white beard beneath his chin. He wore a thick winter robe and was draped in a sheepskin fur, making his figure appear somewhat stout.

Behind him stood a bronze lamp stand; before him was a low-legged lacquered desk. On the lacquered desk, bamboo slips were spread open. Yan Zheng's eyes were narrowed; the hand holding his brush trembled slightly, and he wrote very slowly...

The servant entered, prostrated himself until his body touched the floor, and said:

"Master, that Gongshi from Xiyang Village has been brought."

Without lifting his eyes, Yan Zheng asked, "Gongshi, you say you know this old man?"

Heifu stood outside the room and bowed to him with clasped hands. "I have never met Lord Yan, but my elder brother had the good fortune, in his youth, to study reading and writing under Lord Yan in the township."

"And what is the name of this elder brother of yours?" Yan Zheng still did not look up.

"Zhong."

"Zhong?" Yan Zheng finally stopped his brush. He lowered his head and thought for a long while, then spoke again. "I am old. I do not remember."

The atmosphere was a bit awkward. But that had been over ten years ago, when Yan Zheng was merely a Township Elder, before he had gone to serve as an official in the county. The Elder oversaw moral instruction, and teaching the sons of ranked families had been done in large classes — it was normal to forget one or two individuals.

Heifu simply handed the tuition gift to the servant and stated his purpose directly.

"I have come today because I have long heard that Elder Yan is thoroughly versed in the laws and ordinances, and that he also keeps copies of the new laws and ordinances issued each year to the commanderies and counties. Therefore, I wish to borrow the 'Statutes on Theft,' 'Statutes on Arrest,' and other such sections to study and excerpt, and to ask Elder Yan for guidance on difficult points..."

Yan Zheng finally raised his head. He looked at Heifu with surprise and asked, "Young man, why do you want to study these laws and ordinances? Could it be that you intend to become a clerk?"

"Exactly."

Yan Zheng knew the trade. Heifu smiled and said, "For my service in capturing bandits, I was elevated from common soldier to Gongshi. And by good fortune, I caught the eye of the County Right Commandant, who has recruited me to serve as a village head. Next month I must sit for the assessment. Unfortunately, my knowledge of the laws and ordinances is very scant, so I have come to seek Elder Yan's help. I hope that Elder Yan, for the sake of our shared village and kinship, will offer me some guidance..."

"Village head?"

Yan Zheng's long-narrowed eyes finally opened. A village head was neither a grand nor a minor post — merely a petty clerk on a peck-of-grain salary. Yet it was not insignificant either: it held jurisdiction over ten li of territory, answered directly to the county, and came with armed authority.

So Yan Zheng, as a retired old clerk with no power or influence and only a bit of reputation, could afford to disregard the local village chief or field clerk — but he dared not treat a future village head with too much negligence.

Conversely, if he could mentor a village head, it would also benefit his own renown.

Yan Zheng once again scrutinized Heifu carefully and discovered that this young man was actually so young. "How old are you this year?"

"In a few days, I will turn eighteen."

"Recruited as a village head at eighteen? Remarkable, remarkable. When this old man was eighteen, I was still just a clerk-student studying the laws in the academy."

Yan Zheng was truly astonished now. A common soldier, with no background whatsoever, had become a village chief at just eighteen. Given time — ten, twenty years — what kind of future would lie ahead of him?

He set down his brush, suddenly lavishing praise on Heifu, then shot a fierce glare at the servant who had sidled up with a fawning face to report the amount of dried-meat tuition gifts, and rebuked him:

"You ill-mannered slave, who taught you how to treat guests? Hurry up and invite these two young fellows from my home district inside — offer them seats, and bring hot broth!"

PS: Regarding the Qin land system, history textbooks say that Shang Yang's reforms turned the well-field system into private ownership, making land buyable and sellable, which increased the laboring people's enthusiasm, and so on… But when you look for evidence, the only source is Dong Zhongshu's remarks as a solitary piece of testimony… It just happened to fit the Marxist-Leninist view of history, so it was forcibly made to fit the shoe by cutting the foot. In recent years, as research on excavated Qin bamboo slips has deepened, it's become clear that this was not the case at all — not only can no transaction contracts for buying and selling land be found, but even when the authorities sealed the property of criminals, farmland was not counted as private property to be confiscated…

After all, this is a novel, so I won't belabor the theory too much. Ahem, my editor will scold me again for turning the novel into a graduation thesis T﹏T. In short, I agree with the view in *A Study of the Qin System*: Qin practiced universal state ownership of land. As for how it gradually changed flavor in the Han dynasty, that's a story for later.

(End of chapter)