Chapter 464: A True Man

"Brother Ji, what are you doing? You've nurtured that splendid full beard for so many years — why shave it off now!"

Lu Wan was on the verge of kneeling to Liu Ji. He had no idea what madness had seized his big brother. Sweeping snow on North Gate Street, they had been fortunate enough to glimpse the imperial chariot procession and the honored visages of the three generals — they all felt their horizons had been broadened. Only Liu Ji, who had been all chuckles before, now looked as if he'd seen a ghost. The moment they returned to the conscript laborers' crude quarters, he slapped a bronze paring knife onto the sleeping platform and demanded Lu Wan help him shave off his beard!

"Have you seen a ghost or gone mad?"

Liu Ji gave a mirthless laugh. "That's right, I saw a ghost — a pitch-black one at that."

Liu Ji was certain his eyes had not deceived him. Though the man now sported a slight beard, wore a full set of fur-lined armor, and had donned the handsome junior supervisor's brown-feathered helmet — an awe-inspiring sight — his appearance was exactly the same as all those years ago. A Qin clerk with a face that dark was a rare sight indeed in this world!

Against the white snow, he stood out even more, like a lump of black charcoal in a snowdrift.

Over seven years ago, Liu Ji had still been a retainer under Zhang Er. On the walls of Waihuang, he had locked eyes with that dark-faced Qin clerk. Both had been fierce in appearance but timid at heart, on the verge of hacking at each other with their blades. But by then, the Waihuang gallants had already suffered a crushing defeat, and Liu Ji had killed a Qin soldier — he had done his duty by Zhang Er's wine and meat. Shouting "Protect Lord Zhang!", he had turned tail and fled. (Chapters 125, 126)

After that, Liu Ji turned over a new leaf and tried for the post of village chief back in his hometown. The Waihuang incident lay buried deep in his heart. He figured that in the vast sea of humanity, that dark-faced young Qin clerk had probably long since died in some war or another.

Yet seeing him today, he realized that the very man he had faced off against back then was none other than the renowned "Commandant Wei" of recent years!

And what truly terrified him was that this Commandant Wei had even glanced his way several times. When their eyes met, Liu Ji broke out in a cold sweat. Fortunately, the procession was moving fast — Heifu was right in front of the emperor's gold-rooted chariot and could not stop. Liu Ji seized the chance to vanish into the crowd...

"Could he have recognized me too?"

At this thought, Liu Ji felt utterly wretched. Back then, he had been one of Zhang Er's associates, had resisted the Qin army, and had killed a Qin soldier. If they pursued the matter, being executed as a rebel, with his whole family implicated, was not out of the question!

"No, I can't let him find me!"

They were conscript laborers, watched over by soldiers and deep in Guanzhong — fleeing was impossible. So Liu Ji steeled his heart and resolved to have Lu Wan shave off his beard.

"For no reason at all, why inflict the punishment of shaving on yourself..."

Lu Wan still did not understand. In this age, a person's hair and beard were matters of great importance. Even in death, the deceased's hair had to be buried separately in an earthen pit or placed in a small pouch inside the coffin.

Liu Ji's splendid full beard was his proudest hallmark. In the past, no matter how destitute he was, he had always kept his beard meticulously groomed, rinsing it with clean water every day and occasionally rubbing in a little oil. For this, the people of Pei County had esteemed him as an "elder."

Besides, shaving the beard or hair was a humiliating punishment. Shaving the beard was called "nai," shaving the sideburns was "wan," and shaving the head was "kun" — much like how reformed convicts in later ages had their heads shaved clean. Suffer any one of these three, and you could never hold your head up in public again.

Not only that, but even grabbing an opponent's hair or beard in a brawl violated Qin law: if you tied someone up in a fight and then plucked out all his beard and eyebrows, you would be punished by being sent to hard labor as a wall-builder. Lu Wan feared that if he cut Liu Ji's beard, he might later be accused of an illicit brawl and convicted for it. So no matter what Liu Ji said, he hesitated, not daring to act.

"What a worthless coward!"

Liu Ji was furious. Seeing Lu Wan too timid and fearful, he snatched the paring knife and began cutting it himself beside the frozen pond.

Once his mind was made up, his movements were swift. In a few quick strokes, he scraped away the splendid full beard he had cultivated for over a decade, leaving only a bit of stubble. He then trimmed the mustache above his lip, transforming the former thick beard into a short, arrowhead-shaped one.

"How is it now? Still recognizable?"

With a beard versus without, a great beard versus a small one — a man's entire bearing changes drastically. Lu Wan and the others looked him over from every angle and felt Liu Ji no longer had his former imposing presence. They all said, "Back in Pei County, if you don't say anything, I'm afraid no one will recognize Brother Ji."

Liu Ji was overjoyed. Lu Wan added, "If the officials ask why Brother Ji shaved his beard, how should we explain?"

"Just say that after returning to Guanzhong from beyond the northern frontier, I got lice. The itching was unbearable, so in a fit of rage, I cut off the thick beard!"

Liu Ji now only hoped that this way, even if Commandant Wei wanted to come back looking for him, he would have no way to start. After all, from such a distance, his most obvious marker had been that thick beard...

The first day after that passed without incident. Even the petty clerk in charge of them, a minor functionary drawing a meager salary, merely asked a casual question upon seeing Liu Ji had suddenly shaved, then thought nothing more of it. He only hurried the Pei County laborers off to work, transporting firewood to the military camp on the outskirts of Xianyang.

But on the second day, Zhang Ping, younger brother of Zhang Han and a clerk of the Privy Treasury, came to the conscript laborers' camp for a bowl of hot broth, entrusted by the Commandant of Beidi Commandery. After exchanging pleasantries with the Xianyang Superintendent of Works, who was in charge of the conscripts, he asked him to help search among the laborers for men with splendid full beards...

"These men," he said mysteriously, "Commandant Wei has a great use for them..."

The Xianyang Superintendent of Works did not understand the reason, but knew better than to ask too many questions. He naturally could not personally go searching through the stinking horde of conscripts and convicts. Checking the identity tallies of tens of thousands of laborers one by one would be far too laborious, and many people's appearances were not clearly registered on them anyway. So he assigned a few hundred-bushel clerks under him to handle the matter, just going through the motions to get it done.

The hundred-bushel clerks, however, did take a hands-on approach. They made the rounds of every campsite, assembled all the conscripts, and called away every thick-bearded man they laid eyes on.

The Pei County conscripts were no exception. Just as Liu Ji and the others were pushing their heavy carts along a muddy road, a hundred-bushel clerk stopped them. After a single glance and seeing that none of them were men of "splendid, thick beard," he waved them on their way...

Another day passed, and those hundred-odd splendid, thick-bearded men returned safe and sound, all extremely excited. They said they had been granted an audience with the Commandant of Beidi Commandery.

Commandant Wei had not done anything strange to them. He merely praised their thick hair and beards, calling them all first-rate stalwart warriors, treated everyone to a hearty meal, and then sent them back to their respective camps.

But because of this, a rumor that "the Commandant of Beidi is fond of splendid-bearded men" began to spread throughout Xianyang...

The conscript laborers did not take this in a bad way, for although Heifu was young, his reputation was already thunderous — especially among the lower-class conscripts serving west of the pass. After all, looking across the entire empire, he was the only one who had risen from a commoner to junior supervisor within a decade.

Heifu's path of promotion had practically become a living advertisement for the system of military merit and noble ranks: clansmen of the imperial house without merit could not be registered in the clan rolls, and fierce generals must rise from the ranks of the common soldiers!

In Great Qin, only merit counted, not birth! Even if you hatched from a chicken coop, so long as you had the talent of an eagle, you could soar to the highest branches!

Even Zhou Bo of Pei County, upon reaching the frontier and hearing of Heifu's deeds, had conceived the ambition to "earn merit and gain a noble rank" — something nearly impossible in the former Chu. Coupled with the glory of parading before the imperial chariot to display their achievements that day, the men were all beside themselves with excitement at having seen Heifu.

When Lu Wan heard of this, he was full of regret: "If Brother Ji hadn't shaved his beard, he could have met Commandant Wei too..."

Liu Ji glared at Lu Wan, telling him to shut his mouth.

Having narrowly escaped disaster, Liu Ji felt immensely relieved. Thank goodness he had been quick-witted. But at the same time, a sense of stifled indignation that was hard to put into words welled up inside him...

He had thought that over these few years, going from a universally despised wandering gallant to working his way into the system and becoming a village chief, a figure of some standing whom people for ten leagues around had to treat with a measure of respect — he had done quite well for himself.

Yet to his surprise, Heifu had climbed even faster. How had that minor clerk, who back then had to personally brave arrows and stones, risen in seven or eight years to become a high court official and a provincial grandee?

"With a face like that, even if he sold his ass, no one would buy..." Liu Ji thought crudely.

Comparisons really are infuriating! That day on the city wall, Liu Ji had even had a chance to kill Heifu. But now, they were as far apart as clouds and mud. He had actually been reduced to shaving his beard to save his own skin from being recognized and losing his head...

He could not accept it!

Liu Ji's heart was sour with envy, but he consoled himself: "My younger brother Liu Jiao once told me something: 'The looper caterpillar bends its body for the purpose of stretching forward; creatures as mighty as dragons and serpents must lie dormant so they can continue to survive.'"

"A true man can bend and stretch!"

Though Liu Ji was lowly, though he was nearing forty with nothing to show for it, deep in his heart, he too saw himself as a dragon or serpent!

At that moment, Lu Wan was still discussing with the Pei County men, saying how Commandant Wei, starting from commoner status, had earned merit and noble rank every step of the way, ascended to the ministerial ranks, and expanded the empire's territory beyond the frontier. In the future, he might even become a Grand General or Chancellor, and be enshrined in the Border-Pacifying Shrine.

They all felt that Commandant Wei was a true man, a model for the likes of them to emulate...

"That's not what a true man is."

Liu Ji had been feigning sleep facing the wall. Hearing this, he could not help but interject.

"Then what does Brother Ji consider a true man?" Lu Wan and the others asked, curious.

But Liu Ji said nothing more. He closed his eyes again and pretended to snore like thunder.

"He fell asleep? That was just sleep-talking earlier, right?" The Pei County conscripts paid it no mind.

In the darkness, after everyone had fallen asleep, Liu Ji opened his eyes again — they were clear and bright.

"Yeah, just talking in my sleep…"

Habitually he reached to stroke his thick beard, but what his fingers met was prickly short stubble.

That day's experience truly felt like a dream — first the nightmare of being stared at by Hei Fu, then immediately after, a wondrous dream of witnessing a miracle…

Never mind the awe-inspiring majesty of the emperor's vanguard guard, advancing with a thousand chariots and ten thousand riders; when Hei Fu and the others cleared the way and Qin Shi Huang's Gold-Root Chariot actually passed by, with countless shouts of acclamation, for ten li around, the hundred thousand and more common folk, corvée laborers, and soldiers along the route all prostrated themselves in unison, like a wheat field swept by the wind!

Liu Ji was one of those stalks of wheat.

He stole a glance and saw the emperor's ceremonial carriage, a massive chariot drawn by six pure-white horses, its cabin so tightly fitted that Qin Shi Huang's figure could not be seen.

But even so, Liu Ji still saw a great deal.

He saw the glory of the ceremonial carriage, with its yellow canopy and yak-tail banner on the left.

Qin Shi Huang was the one and only emperor upon this land. Throughout the entire procession, without a single word, without revealing so much as a glimpse of himself, he could make thousands upon ten thousands cheer for him, go mad for him, kowtow to him, both revering and fearing him.

Even the three generals who commanded thousands upon thousands of troops were, to put it plainly, no more than forerunners clearing the path ahead, while all those civil and military officials were merely stars revolving around the emperor.

Liu Ji's eyes were nearly blinded by this dazzling sun, and he even forgot his earlier terror completely…

All power under heaven was concentrated within that carriage, in the emperor's palm.

With a single word from his lips, countless men would lay down their lives for him, sweeping across the six kingdoms, unstoppable by anyone!

The county gallants whom Liu Ji had once thought so formidable had been shattered to pieces before the sharp blades of the Qin army, tamed into perfect obedience by the emperor's laws and decrees.

The Chu kingdom where Liu Ji had lived for over thirty years had been destroyed like dry weeds and rotten wood at a single command from the emperor.

When the emperor cast his gaze toward the distance, generals like Hei Fu would rise early and retire late, hurrying off to the lands of shifting sands.

When the emperor beckoned with his hand, Liu Ji and over a hundred thousand laborers would travel a thousand li to come to Xianyang, then head north beyond the frontier.

It seemed as if the entire world revolved around this one man alone.

Yes, between him and Hei Fu there was a difference like clouds and mud — but when Hei Fu was compared to Qin Shi Huang, was that not also like the light of a firefly vying with the sun?

In his youth, Liu Ji had worshipped Lord Wuji of Wei, whose righteousness reached to the heavens.

But now, Liu Ji discovered that he had a new object of worship!

And that was Qin Shi Huang!

Aside from the emperor, everyone — including Hei Fu, including Liu Ji himself — was nothing but an ant! What distinction of high and low was there among them?

"A true great man should be just like this!"

(End of chapter)