Chapter 524: A Tree That Stands Out in the Forest

"Warfare is the Dao of deception. Thus, when capable, appear incapable; when active, appear inactive; finally, strike where they are unprepared, emerge where they least expect it…"

In a flash of lightning, this sentence blazed through Heifu's mind, and he could not help but sigh — it seemed Li Si understood military strategy too. After many days of feigned weakness and inaction, at the final moment, Li Si had completely reversed the situation with a single sentence!

The smile Li Si cast at Heifu at the end seemed to say: "Youngster, you are still too green. Train a few more years before you come spar with this old man!"

Though Heifu was displeased inwardly, on reflection he had to admit Li Si was right. Looking across the realm, in literary and textual accomplishment, no one could surpass him. His "Petition Against the Expulsion of Guest Officials" was rigorously argued, its momentum flowing seamlessly, grand and sweeping like a rushing river — a celebrated masterpiece on everyone's lips. He had also, together with Zhao Gao, Hu Wujing, and others, written the *Cangjie Primer*, the *Yuanli Primer*, and the *Erudition Primer*, which served as standard models for Qin script. On this occasion of the First Emperor's eastern inspection tour and fengshan sacrifices, the Yishan stone inscription and the Mount Tai fengshan stone inscription had also come from Li Si's brush.

For compiling the books, one truly could not find a more suitable director.

But Li Si delighted in suppressing dissenting schools of thought that displeased him. If he became the butcher's cleaver and all the realm's learning became the fish and meat on the block, after several rounds of excision and prohibition, the consequences would likely be no less than book-burning — and it would conveniently burnish his own reputation in the process.

If this matter were left to Li Si to direct, then everything Heifu had done these past days would have been nothing but sewing a wedding dress for someone else!

Heifu's mind raced frantically through candidates. Himself, a mere commandery governor — impossible. Fusu? If Fusu were the Crown Prince, that would be one thing; with his status settled, the Emperor would be delighted to let Fusu earn prestige through this undertaking.

But Fusu was now merely the Eldest Young Master, his status still unsettled, and he had even displeased the First Emperor over the fengshan affair. On the other hand, the First Emperor's purpose in compiling history and books remained "prohibition through collection." This matter had to be carried through to the end, and the Emperor would absolutely never entrust it to Fusu, whose political views diverged so sharply from his own!

Heifu remembered clearly what the Mount Tai stone inscription said: "Distinguish clearly between inner and outer, let all be pure and unsullied, bestow this upon future heirs. Let its influence extend endlessly; revere and uphold the posthumous edict, forever bear the weighty admonition!"

The First Emperor was a forceful statesman. Not only would he tolerate no defiance of the policies he implemented while alive, but even a hundred years hence, he hoped his descendants would "revere and uphold the posthumous edict, forever bear the weighty admonition."

By the same logic, Wang Wan and the Erudite Confucian scholars were already eliminated, stripped of their voice. And among the court officials, Hu Wujing, Zhang Cang, and Cheng Miao — though each had their own expertise — were all somewhat lacking in seniority and prestige.

There had once been a man in this world who, in both literary achievement and renown, surpassed Li Si by a head, and whose political inclinations aligned uncannily with the First Emperor's.

A pity — he was dead.

"If only Han Fei were still alive…"

Heifu could not help but lament, seized by the feeling that in an age bereft of heroes, it allowed mediocrities to make their names.

Seeing the First Emperor's expression shift as if moved, ready to appoint Li Si to the task of compiling history and books, Heifu grew frantic, and from desperation, boldness was born!

"The Chancellor volunteers to compile the books, wishing to make all the realm's scholars emulate the Chancellor's learning — is this an attempt to become another Lü Buwei?"

But these heart-piercing words, though they had reached the tip of his tongue, Heifu dared not speak them aloud.

He knew that once spoken, the matter between him and Li Si would no longer be a dispute of court policy, but an on-the-spot rupture of face, turning them into mortal enemies locked in unending strife! Such an act — a lowly official assailing the Chancellor — would even displease the Emperor.

In that moment of hesitation, however, someone stepped forward and said with a genial smile:

"Indeed, no one is more suitable than the Chancellor. After all, this is not the Chancellor's first time compiling a book."

It was Ye Teng. He had seen Heifu caught between a rock and a hard place and had stepped forward of his own accord to play the villain!

Wang Wan could no longer get a word in. Among those present, only the high-ranking and weighty Commandant of Justice Ye Teng had the standing to lock horns with Li Si!

This sentence did indeed awaken some unpleasant memories in the First Emperor. He halted his deliberation and glanced at the two men.

"What does the Commandant of Justice mean by this?"

Li Si's smile faded. He regarded Ye Teng coldly.

"I meant nothing else."

Ye Teng bowed to the Emperor. "It is merely that this subject believes such a weighty responsibility — serving as teacher to all the realm's scholars — must not be entrusted to a single person alone!"

Li Si also petitioned: "Your Majesty, this subject acts solely for the public good, with absolutely no such intention!"

"You two ministers, cease your quarreling."

The First Emperor appeared not to mind greatly, and said with a smile: "'A single word worth a thousand gold' — such a thing can only come from Our mouth. In this world, there shall be no second *Spring and Autumn of Lü Buwei*!"

The meaning was: stop arguing. No matter who directs it, they must heed Us. Whatever We say goes! Those below need only follow the Emperor's intent and handle the details.

Very soon, the First Emperor made his decision.

He decreed that the Right Chancellor Li Si would take the lead and direct the compilation of the *National History*, with the Imperial Secretary Feng Quji and the Commandant of Justice Ye Teng as assistants, gathering the realm's books for sorting and organization. Naturally, because the Chancellor, Imperial Secretary, and Commandant of Justice were occupied with government affairs, they would only be nominal heads. The actual compilers were designated as the Grand Historian Hu Wujing, the Privy Treasurer's Deputy Zhang Cang, and the Imperial Censor Cheng Miao — these three men…

The Emperor's words were gold and jade. The matter was settled. Heifu could not help but let out a long breath of relief. Although Li Si still took the lead in the end, the Imperial Secretary and the Commandant of Justice now had the authority to interject, and among the compilers were Zhang Cang and Cheng Miao — two men he knew extremely well, whose character was reliable. The outcome was not too terrible after all.

At the end, however, the First Emperor called out Heifu's name and, with a genial smile, announced his reward.

"Heifu has governed his commandery for half a year. In that time, he has prioritized law and education, restrained private academies, promoted the standardization of script, quelled the rebellion of the Tian clan of Ye County, kept Jiaodong in perfect order, and furthermore proposed the compilation of the national history and presented woodblock printing. For his achievements, he is promoted in rank to Grand Superior of the Realm!"

…

"Promoted in rank to Grand Superior of the Realm, one step closer to your ambition of enfeoffment as a marquis — why are you still so downcast?"

Several days later, with everything settled, Heifu sat facing his father-in-law Ye Teng in a guest lodge outside the Linzi traveling palace.

As Ye Teng had said, after this affair, Heifu had reaped considerable rewards. Yet Heifu could not bring himself to be happy, because in his eyes, the outcome was far from perfect.

Although Li Si was only the nominal head and Ye Teng could interfere to some degree, Li Si undoubtedly had the greatest say in this matter. What it would ultimately become had now completely slipped beyond Heifu's control.

He bowed to Ye Teng, who was pouring himself wine without ceremony. "These past few days, I have been pondering where I went wrong."

"Oh?"

Ye Teng looked at his son-in-law's dark face and smiled. "You think you were wrong? Why?"

Heifu said: "First, I misjudged Li Si's intent. I saw book-burning as his goal, but his true aim was perhaps merely to cater to His Majesty."

Zhang Cang had told Heifu that although he and his fellow disciples had studied under the same master, what they had learned differed considerably. What Li Si had studied with Xunzi was the "art of the emperor" — that is, the learning of governing the realm. But in Li Si's hands, it had become a set of tricks for safeguarding imperial rule. He would shift his political stance and position at any time to cater to and protect the emperor.

Thus, after Li Si arrived in Qin, he first served under Lü Buwei's patronage, compiling the *Spring and Autumn of Lü Buwei*, heavily steeped in Huang-Lao thought, following the path of the "Kingly Way." But after becoming a house retainer, he cast aside his earlier views, catered to the King of Qin's ambition to unify the realm, and advocated more aggressive annexation policies — the "Hegemonic Way." For this, he was appreciated by the King of Qin and appointed as a Guest Minister.

In everything he did thereafter, the Emperor's will took precedence, and he shifted his attitude at any moment — from speaking up for the scholars of the eastern lands in the "Petition Against the Expulsion of Guest Officials" to becoming the most zealous minister in suppressing them.

In the previous several "Confucian-Legalist debates," had the First Emperor leaned toward Confucianism, Li Si would likely have changed his tune and advocated for enfeoffment as well…

Precisely because of this, in the First Emperor's eyes, Li Si had become the most useful and reliable tool for realizing his will, and he trusted him doubly.

Book-burning was no exception. During the fengshan affair, the First Emperor had lost patience with the Confucian scholars and the Hundred Schools. His approach was about to shift from gentle and gradual to harsh and swift, with the aim that only the Emperor's will would exist in the entire state, and court rule would brook no questioning.

Li Si's "book-burning" proposal was also meant to cater to the Emperor's preferences.

No matter how eloquently Heifu argued, the state policy of unifying discourse and attacking doctrines that invoked antiquity would not change. What would change was merely the method — a single torch, or boiling the frog slowly…

Therefore, even for the history compilation Heifu had proposed, the directorship ultimately fell to Li Si. The reason was simple: Li Si had no principles, none of the stubborn temperament of a literatus. He would do everything according to the Emperor's intent. When he handled matters, the First Emperor could rest easy!

As for Li Si's power being too great, monopolizing court administration — the Emperor had no need to worry about that at all… Li Si's safest point was that, though his position was lofty, he was a tree without roots. He had no foundation in the provinces, had never once touched military authority, and maintained cold relations with the Wang, Meng, and other military aristocratic clans.

By contrast, someone like Heifu, who came from the army and had entanglements too deep with the military and the provinces — if one day he were to sit in Li Si's position, the wariness and suspicion he would incur might be ten times what Li Si faced, or more!

"If you can think this through clearly, then you haven't suffered this loss in vain." Ye Teng was deeply gratified. There was also a word of praise for Heifu that he left unspoken:

"Li Si may be able to divine the sovereign's intent, but this son-in-law of mine can repeatedly guide the sovereign's intent — turning southern conquest into western expansion, changing book-burning into history compilation. To accomplish that requires a breadth of strategy and far-sighted planning far more difficult than that art of the emperor!"

He asked again, "Where else do you think you were wrong?"

Heifu hesitated, then rose and prostrated himself before Ye Teng: "I was also wrong to drag my father-in-law into this matter!"

Ye Teng had paid no small price for Heifu's affair this time. Before the Emperor himself, he had thoroughly broken with Li Si, and from now on would likely be seen by Li Si as a thorn in his eye, a spike in his flesh.

Ye Teng, however, shook his head and said, "The court can never be all harmony. His Majesty will also be pleased to see me step forward and raise objections. After all, if the court became Li Si's private echo chamber, that is not something His Majesty wishes to see."

He said cheerfully, "With Wang Wan on the verge of falling, and now that this matter has arisen, I might even have a chance to consider whether I could sit in the Left Chancellor's seat before I die. For this old man, that is a good thing, not a bad one!"

This old fox had thought it through thoroughly. The court requires contending opinions to stir the pot; the Emperor is deeply versed in this art and will not allow Li Si to hold sole sway.

But then Ye Teng's expression turned stern: "If you ask me, your greatest mistake was overlooking where your greatest advantage over Li Si lies."

"My greatest advantage?" Heifu bowed with clasped hands. "Please teach me, Father-in-law."

Ye Teng asked, "How old is Li Si this year?"

Heifu said, "Already past sixty; I hear he is nearly seventy."

"And how old are you this year?"

"Not yet twenty-nine..." Heifu suddenly saw the light.

"Father-in-law means that I was too impatient!"

Ye Teng said, "Exactly. You were too impatient. You did not fully consider the pros and cons of this matter. Turning book-burning into book-revision — it would greatly benefit the state, but what benefit is it to you? Was all you wanted merely a single rank of nobility? After speaking your mind freely, could you control the course of this affair? The result now is that although you forcibly dragged the carriage back onto the road, the one holding the reins is not you... Where the carriage will head from now on is no longer yours to decide!"

"Worse still, a tree that stands out in the forest is the first to be felled by the wind. You were already dazzling enough; you should have been lying low in Jiaodong, yet you placed yourself opposite Li Si so early. From now on, I fear countless troubles will arise."

Ye Teng spoke with deep earnestness: "Youth! Youth is your greatest capital. Can Li Si remain Chancellor for three or five years, or ten? In this vast realm, within a few years, even if every book under heaven is burned, when the day comes that great power rests in your hands, overturning his harsh policies will make it all the easier to win a fine reputation! Attend to the duties of your office; just manage your own little patch of Jiaodong well! Until the day you truly hold the reins, do not lightly presume to point out the path for the carriage and horses!"

"You must remember this: what you contend for is not today, but the future — ten years, twenty years from now!"

Heifu was silent for a long while, but still cupped his hands and said, "Father-in-law's guidance is correct. Heifu has been taught!"

Yet in his heart, he smiled bitterly.

"Ten years? Twenty years? Where would I find that much time? In just a few more days, it will be the thirty-second year of the First Emperor. The northern barbarians have just been pacified, the lands east of the pass are unstable, and the remnants of the six kingdoms stir restlessly. This fire that Li Si is about to set will only pour oil on the flames. If I were merely a politician, of course I should hide my thoughts and stay silent. But who could know that there are some things I cannot turn a blind eye to? Because among the countless multitudes under heaven, I alone am planning for a thousand years ahead while racing against every dawn and dusk!"

PS: Sorry for the wait. Chapter 2 at 10 o'clock.

(End of chapter)