Chapter 527

Several days later, in Ju County, Linzi Commandery — in a corner of the post-station outside the county seat's west gate — a brawny strongman leaned against his hand-pulled cart to rest, gulping down fermented drink in great mouthfuls. After a while he wiped droplets from his beard and saw a convoy arriving from within the city.

One ox-cart after another, laden with bamboo-strip documents, trundled out. Behind them trailed a dejected procession of scholars in Confucian robes, yet wearing cangues and with their hair shorn. Along the way, a few books accidentally fell from an ox-cart; a Confucian scholar instinctively moved to pick them up, only to be lashed repeatedly by Qin clerks.

The strongman grew curious and asked the middle-aged merchant beside him, "Zhang Liang, what are those people doing?"

Zhang Liang was already in his thirties. The graceful young gentleman of the Han Chancellor's house was long gone; a deliberately grown-out beard made him look even older, wind and sun had etched lines onto his forehead, and dressed in coarse hemp cloth he was every inch a Qi merchant. Somewhat helplessly, he said:

"I've told you — do not speak lightly, and above all do not call me Zhang Liang, nor use the Ye tongue."

The strongman, though huge of frame, was very honest. He gave an "Oh," then switched to the already fairly fluent Qi local dialect and asked Zhang Liang again.

The people at the post-station had all gathered by the roadside to watch the scene. Seeing that no one nearby was eavesdropping, Zhang Liang lowered his voice and said, "These Qin clerks, by order of the First Emperor of Qin, are confiscating the common people's copies of the Odes, the Documents, the Histories, and other canonical texts. Those who dare not hand them over are punished with hair-shaving and face-tattooing. Those who dare discuss the Odes or Documents are severely punished; those who use the past to disparage the present are reduced to wall-builders."

"Books?"

The mighty strongman scratched his head. In his homeland, the "Vast Sea" beyond the ocean, there was no such thing. Occasionally "crossers" fleeing Qin rule would bring a scroll or two ashore, but the local Ye people had no interest whatsoever in scrolls full of symbols. What interested them were the sharp weapons and exquisite implements the crossers brought with them…

As for books, those old bamboo slips — too few to use as firewood, too thin to split into chopsticks — were utterly useless.

Yet the Emperor was so nervous about these useless things. The strongman could not help his curiosity: "The year I first came to the Central Plains, I happened upon officials collecting weapons from the common people. The crime of hiding weapons is lighter than the crime of hiding books. Could it be that in the Emperor's eyes, books are more fearsome than weapons?"

Zhang Liang laughed. "Weapons are tangible arms, held in a man's hand. With a single wave, the Emperor can send a thousand troops and ten thousand horses to wipe them out. Once a man is stripped of the weapons to resist, how can fists and teeth contend against strong crossbows and elite soldiers?"

"But what is hidden in books is an intangible weapon. It spreads among the people through eyes, mouths, and ears — impossible to guard against."

Although Zhang Liang favored Huang-Lao thought, he had also studied ritual under a renowned teacher in Huaiyang, and was therefore well-versed in the Odes, Documents, ritual, and music.

He said, "The Documents and Odes record the statecraft principles of the ancient sage kings, while the histories of the various states record their own pasts. Seeing these, a scholar will understand that, compared to today's brutality and harshness, there was once the rule of the Three Dynasties, when the sage Son of Heaven let his robes hang down and governed by non-action."

"And Qi, Chu, Yan, Han, Zhao, and Wei — before they were ruled by the tyrannical Qin, each had its own independent history, reminding men which state they belonged to. These are the shadowless arrows hidden within books. Every additional person who grasps them, every additional person who spreads them, is one more person turning his blade against Qin. Therefore, they must be banned!"

"What frightens the First Emperor even more is that Qin has nothing with which to oppose them. Qin prizes head-taking and has cast aside ritual and righteousness. Their historical records are crude, their odes and documents long since destroyed. Scholars east of the Pass scorn them and regard them as barbarians. The Qin government can only forcibly constrain people with statutes and ordinances, but all men love leniency and detest severity. Thus, to make himself appear to surpass the Three Sovereigns in achievement and outshine the Five Emperors in virtue, to make his court seem superior to the rule of the Three Dynasties, the Emperor wishes to exalt the present by burning the past…"

The strongman listened, his mouth agape. For the first time, he understood that those inconspicuous bamboo books could have such a great effect — surpassing sharp arrows and blades!

"The thinking of Central Plains people is truly strange." He shook his head, unable to fathom such complicated logic.

"You cannot fathom it, but there are those who can."

Zhang Liang smiled. "To my mind, in dealing with these intangible weapons, the Emperor and Chancellor Li Si would likely have burned them all in one fire, just as they collected and destroyed the realm's weapons — thereby provoking the scholars' shock and fury, alienating their hearts. But who would have guessed that a certain clever Qin clerk stopped this? Though it is old wine in a new bottle — the books must still be surrendered, hiding them is still a crime — it has changed from book-burning to book-compiling. Is the government compiling books? No. What they are forging is a sharp weapon capable of contending against the Odes, Documents, ritual, and music of the lands east of the Pass, against the histories of the Six States!"

At this thought, Zhang Liang's heart grew urgent. "If his treacherous scheme succeeds, then in ten or twenty years, when the next generation has grown up, they will likely all be fooled by the government, knowing only Qin and not knowing Han!"

From the strongman's three years of observation, this Zhang Liang was already the cleverest man in the Central Plains. Though a wanted fugitive engaged in plotting to assassinate the Emperor, he was utterly composed. He had traveled from Yan to Zhao, made a trip back to Han, and then come to Qi — swaggering along the whole way, staying at inns with forged travel documents. Wherever he went, chivalrous friends aided him in secret, and there were even people at court passing him information.

This was the first time the strongman had heard Zhang Liang praise someone as clever — a recognition exceedingly rare. He could not help his curiosity: "Where is that clever Qin clerk?"

But his next line was: "Do you want me to go kill him?"

"I already tried once, but failed. After that single missed strike, this man has grown wary. Those who could help me have been implicated and wiped out almost entirely. Relying on just the two of us, there is no chance left."

Zhang Liang shook his head. Seeing that the day was growing late, he rose and said, "We've eaten and drunk our fill — let's go. The road we must walk is still long!"

The First Emperor would soon pass through this area, but Zhang Liang did not think Ju County was a good place to strike. The population here was dense, yet the land was flat and open, offering no place for the two of them to hide, much less a way to escape unscathed.

The strongman pushed the cart and looked east, but Zhang Liang directed him south.

"Didn't you say someone sent a letter asking you to go to Jiaodong, saying there were people there to receive you?" the strongman asked, greatly puzzled.

"That fangshi harbors ill intentions. I will have no further contact with him."

Zhang Liang gave a cold laugh. "Zhang Liang's attempt to assassinate Qin seeks only to avenge my state and my family. I am not willing to be like Nie Zheng — to become a blade in another's hand, exploited and throwing my life away in vain! You asked me where that astute Qin clerk is? His name is Heifu, and he is precisely the Governor of Jiaodong! From now on, Zhang Liang will steer clear of him. I will not be a reckless brute. By enduring for a time, by seeking advantage and avoiding harm, only then can I make the whole realm don white mourning!"

…

Three days later, the First Emperor's vast eastward inspection procession passed through Ju County. After crossing the Wei River, it formally entered the territory of Jiaodong Commandery. Here, as expected, three thousand commandery troops personally led by the Commandery Commandant defended the route tightly, and the screening of idle and miscellaneous persons was extremely meticulous.

The fangshi Han Zhong had been in constant fear. After entering Jiaodong, whenever the procession moved and there was the slightest stir of wind or grass, he would poke his head out to investigate, terrified that Zhang Liang had truly believed his words and brought men to carry out the assassination. But the greatest disturbance was merely some commoners' cattle and sheep running onto the road, driven off by the Jiaodong commandery troops. Several days passed with alarms but no mishaps, yet the stone in Han Zhong's heart still had not dropped.

But until they reached the seashore, there was still no sign of assassins. On the contrary, the defenses Heifu had laid grew tighter and tighter.

Master Lu seemed to have anticipated this. When he heard from Han Zhong that the man he had sent could no longer find any trace of that death-sworn warrior, he burst out laughing. "Master Han, the death-sworn warrior you found is a clever man. By now, he is likely no longer in Jiaodong."

That being the case, the plan of their "immortal-seeking" faction of fangshi could only proceed under the condition that Heifu was present and held enormous sway…

"Fortune is where disaster hides; disaster is where fortune leans. So be it, so be it. Since that death-sworn warrior stays hidden and does not strike, Han Zhong can remain constrained by this matter and be of use to me for a while longer."

Master Lu sighed and thought to himself, "It seems that before we reach Zhifu, this old man must have a proper talk with that Heifu."

At that moment, Han Zhong, having learned that the "death-sworn warrior" would in all likelihood not assassinate the Emperor, finally breathed a sigh of relief. Once the stone in his heart had dropped, he also noticed a key issue and could not help saying:

"The men of Qi love to debate, and the fangshi even more so. Thus in Jibei and Linzi, upon hearing of the Emperor's arrival, fangshi often sought an audience to discourse on spirits, strange phenomena, and wondrous arts, hoping to catch his eye and gain riches and rank in a single stroke. Why is it that we have been in Jiaodong for several days and have not seen a single fangshi?"

"You wish to know?" Master Lu gave a dark chuckle. This was precisely why he was so wary of Governor Heifu! When he learned what this fellow had done to the fangshi of Jiaodong, he too had been both shocked and furious!

He said with a trace of bitterness, "Once we reach the seaside, you will naturally understand! Governor Heifu has arranged a grand spectacle there, intending to present it to His Majesty!"

…

The "clever man" Heifu of whom Zhang Liang spoke knew nothing of these matters; it was simply that, based on his own experience of surviving assassination, he understood that tight precautions could do no harm.

If, despite every precaution, something went wrong, as Governor of Jiaodong he could hardly shirk responsibility. Who knew where the "Bó Làng Sandbank" that had failed to happen on schedule might shift to?

"Wherever it goes, just so long as it's not on my turf…" Heifu thought to himself.

He was extremely cautious the whole way, having the Commandery Commandant, Gong Ao, Cao Shen, and others clear out local chivalrous elements before the imperial arrival. Thus the journey was uneventful. On the third day of the tenth month, the First Emperor's carriage finally reached the seashore north of Xiami County…

"This is His Majesty's first time seeing the sea, is it not?"

While leading the way ahead, Heifu suddenly asked Zhang Cang beside him.

Zhang Cang was taken aback. "Indeed. Not only His Majesty — the Right Chancellor, the Commandant of Justice, the various marquises and ministers — most have never seen the sea."

He pointed at himself and laughed. "Neither have I."

However, Zhang Cang, who now managed revenues and expenditures in the Privy Treasury, was most interested in the sea not for its scenery, nor for sunshine, sandy beaches, old boatmen, much less for elusive immortal isles, but for a certain local product of the coast…

With the coastline distantly in sight, Zhang Cang said excitedly, "I have long heard that Qi is a land of mountains and sea, producing hundreds of thousands of zhong of salt every year. Where the Wei River enters the sea, they boil the ocean day and night without cease, the dense smoke blotting out the sky and shrouding the sun. Today I shall finally see it!"

"Hahahaha."

Unexpectedly, Heifu burst out laughing beside him. Zhang Cang was baffled; Heifu pointed at the sky and said, "Brother Zihu, just look."

"Look at what?"

Zhang Cang's plump face was full of puzzlement, but then he reacted:

The weather today was just right — blue sky, white clouds, brilliant sunshine. Where was the rolling dense smoke produced by "boiling the sea"?!

PS: Chapter 3 will be a bit late; it won't be finished until sometime between 1 and 2.

(End of chapter)