Chapter 557: Now We Shall Raise a Great Cause!

"Elder brother, not long ago you said that while the sun still hangs in the sky, the host of stars cannot appear — just as while the First Emperor lived, who in this vast realm would dare openly rebel against Qin? Now that Qin Shi Huang has met his end by an assassin's blade, elder brother, the time has come to raise the banner of revolt against Qin!"

A boulder plunges into water, and the ripples it stirs spread outward in widening rings, at last reaching Di County in Linzi Commandery to the north. The moment Tian Rong learned of the great event that had taken place in Junan, he raced back to the residence at full speed and told his elder cousin Tian Dan.

Tian Rong was fierce by nature, somewhat resembling his younger brother Tian Heng, who would rather live as an exile and sea bandit than scrape out an existence under Qin rule. Now he urged Tian Dan with all his might: their Di County Tian clan ought to seize this fine opportunity and raise anew the banner of restoring Qi.

But Tian Dan possessed a measure more of stratagem and hesitance than Tian Rong. Still doubting the news, he mused aloud:

"The tidings we have received so far are all passed by word of mouth among wandering swordsmen and traveling merchants. Some say a man emulated Jing Ke, presenting an elixir of immortality and stabbing the Emperor within five paces. Others say a gallant hero led his retainers in ambush, piercing the golden-rooted carriage with a long spear and spearing Qin Shi Huang to death. Still others speak of a great iron mallet... The rumors are too many, the discrepancies too great. Though all end by saying Qin Shi Huang is dead, we cannot yet be certain..."

The realm-wide mourning garb the Tian brothers had hoped for did not appear, nor could they extract any definite news from the government offices: in this age there was no radio, no television. The authorities relied chiefly on postal relay documents, while the common folk had only whispered hearsay passed mouth to mouth.

The imperial court would never send word to a minor county town below saying "the Emperor is not dead." The documents Di County received merely ordered them to tighten martial law, prohibit wandering swordsmen, and arrest certain suspicious outsiders — that and nothing more.

Tian Rong therefore believed that the officials were putting on this act precisely because Qin Shi Huang was in fact dead, and they were merely keeping his death secret for the time being...

Tian Dan, however, thought it better to wait a while longer: "The matter we plot is a crime punishable by the extermination of three clans. If we are not prudent, I fear the Di County Tian clan will be cut off entirely. Better to wait a little longer..."

If Qin Shi Huang were truly dead, word would surely come before long; if he were not dead, the Di County Tian clan could continue to lie low...

"Elder brother, how much longer will you wait?"

Tian Rong erupted, speaking with fierce emotion: "In those days, when King Jian of Qi wished to go to court in Qin, the Marshal of Yongmen barred his horse with a halberd and remonstrated: 'The land of Qi stretches for thousands of li, its armored soldiers number in the millions. The grandees of the Three Jin who refused to surrender to Qin and dwell between E and Juan number in the hundreds. If Your Majesty gave them a force of a hundred thousand, and let them recover the former lands of the Three Jin, then the pass at Linjin could be entered. The grandees of Chu's Yan and Ying who refused to surrender to Qin and dwell south of the city number in the hundreds. If Your Majesty gave them a host of a hundred thousand, and let them recover the former lands of Chu, then Wu Pass could be entered. Thus would Qi's might be established, and the kingdom of Qin could be destroyed!'"

"Yet King Jian of Qi was cowardly and muddled, and instead surrendered without a fight, bowing as a subject facing west to Qin Shi Huang, hoping he could go on being a feudal lord. And what was the result? Zhao Zheng deceived the King of Qi. Qi's two thousand li of territory were handed over with both hands, and King Jian of Qi was confined among the pines and cypresses, where he starved to death alive! The people of Qi mourned him and made a song: 'O pine! O cypress! He who made Jian dwell in Gong — was it Ke?'"

Speaking of the bygone days when their former kingdom was destroyed, Tian Rong, a scion of the Qi royal house, still ground his teeth in fury. Seeing Tian Dan's face show signs of being moved, he pressed on:

"Qi has been destroyed for six years now. Not only have we lost the altars of state, even our script, measures, and weights have all been utterly wiped out by Qin officials and replaced with Qin seal script and Qin sheng. And lately that dog of an emperor has gone so far as to forcibly relocate all the Tian clans of Jiaodong, stripping them even of their clan names and designating them only as First through Eighth — what a monstrous disgrace!"

"The matter is plain: Qin Shi Huang and his Qin officials are targeting the Tian clans. The same calamity, I fear, will before long befall the Tian clans of Linzi, Langya, and Jibei. Does elder brother mean to wait until our family too is moved to some desolate western land and branded with a base numeral as our clan name, before he regrets it beyond remedy?"

With these words, Tian Rong prostrated himself long upon the ground:

"Though we do not yet know whether Qin Shi Huang is dead or wounded, he has certainly suffered an assassination attempt. East of the Pass, hearts are panicked, and bold men everywhere stir restlessly. This is a heaven-sent chance for the Tian clan to wash away its former shame. Elder brother, if you are so irresolute, do you mean to emulate King Jian of Qi and end up starved to death among the pines and cypresses?"

"What younger brother Rong says is excellent. When Heaven bestows and you do not take, you bring calamity upon yourself!"

Tian Dan was finally swayed. Tian Rong was not wrong: the Tian clans were perilously stacked like eggs, the crisis already at a point where it singed their brows — precisely because Heifu had governed Jiaodong, the conflict between the Qin dynasty and the Tian clans of Qi was several times fiercer than in history! Everyone would be thinking: the Ye County Tian clan was exterminated, the Jimo Tian clan and others were forcibly relocated — who would be next if not them?

To rise in revolt and fail was swift death; not to rise was slow death — the outcome was much the same. Now, with rumors swirling throughout Qi and the world suspecting that Qin Shi Huang had perished by an assassin's hand, this was indeed a fine chance to stake everything on one desperate throw...

Once the two brothers reached a consensus, they swiftly began to discuss the date and manner of their uprising.

As head of the family, Tian Dan often hesitated when faced with a matter, but once his mind was made up, he showed considerable strategic acumen. He said to Tian Rong:

"First, we must send men out to sea at once, to the islands north of Jiaodong, and inform A-Heng and the Marshal of Yongmen. Tell them: the First Emperor of Qin is dead — the hour to restore Qi has come!"

The Marshal of Yongmen was a diehard anti-Qin partisan. When Qi fell, he fled to the coast, taking the Qi naval forces far away and stationing them on the islands of the Lesser Sea (the Miaodao Archipelago, present-day Changdao County, Shandong). Those islands were scattered like stars in the sky, habitable, some holding over a thousand people, others a few dozen, their total population perhaps three or four thousand, with sea vessels numbering in the hundreds — no small force.

Tian Heng had gone out to sea six years before and now, among the "sea bandits" north of Jiao, held a position second only to the Marshal of Yongmen, and he had remained in contact with Tian Dan and Tian Rong all along.

When Qin Shi Huang toured the east and the great armies of Jiaodong massed, they dared not act rashly. But now, if they made a sudden landing, they could serve as external support for the Tian clans of Qi!

"Besides external aid, we must also have internal collaborators, so that inside and outside may work in concert to accomplish this great undertaking."

Tian Dan said: "Though Qin has banned wandering swordsmen and confiscated weapons, loyal and righteous men among the common folk can never be wiped out. We must also send men to the marketplace to stir up the hidden wandering swordsmen and gallant heroes there. We might even emulate the deed of Wangsun Jia..."

The so-called "deed of Wangsun Jia" referred to events decades past, when the five states attacked Qi. After King Min of Qi fled, he was killed in the capital of Ju by the Chu general Nao Chi. Qi was on the brink of annihilation, about to be carved up by the great powers.

At that moment, apart from Tian Dan holding fast within the walls of Jimo, one other man stepped forward — none other than King Min of Qi's bodyguard, Wangsun Jia.

Wangsun Jia was only fifteen at the time. Seeing Nao Chi kill King Min of Qi and the officials and soldiers all scatter, he went alone to the marketplace of the Ju capital and declared: "Nao Chi has thrown Qi into chaos and slain King Min. Whoever wishes to join me in slaying him, bare your right shoulder!"

A dramatic scene unfolded: in the marketplace, four hundred wandering swordsmen and combat masters, total strangers to him, stepped forward, bared their right arms, seized weapons, and followed Wangsun Jia. The crowd launched a sudden attack on Nao Chi and in the end killed him, then enthroned King Xiang of Qi. Thus Qi was saved from destruction...

Wandering swordsmen had always been a major force in Qi. Lord Mengchang had stood independent of the feudal lords precisely by gathering such swordsmen around him. These errant warriors, sprung from village alleys and commoners' cloth, were often blunt and unbending, fierce and quarrelsome, yielding to none. They lived by the swords in their hands, made their way in the rivers and lakes, and prized reputation and face above all else. That was why a single wrong word could set them to brawling, each contending for a moment's valor.

Yet, precisely for this reason, wandering swordsmen and combat masters placed great weight on personal loyalty.

As the saying goes, righteous deeds are most often done by those who butcher dogs. In times when the kingdom is shattered and the family undone, loyal and courageous men emerge in an endless stream from among the wandering swordsmen. Those who once, hair bristling with fury, followed Wangsun Jia to kill Nao Chi could now be put to use by the Tian Dan brothers.

"You and I, in those days, played the gallant, cherished our tempers, formed bonds of brotherhood, and bestowed favors in the marketplace. Now at last these things can be put to use..."

Tian Dan was confident: with the renown of the three brothers and the wandering swordsmen's discontent with the Qin dynasty, one rallying cry would bring forth responders in Di County — far more than a mere four hundred.

As for the errant youths on the streets of Linzi, they numbered in the tens of thousands. Though Qin law forced them to hide their swords and ply lowly trades, their swordsmen's hearts had not yet died! At night, when the wine flowed, in crumbling village wards, there was no shortage of men cursing the Qin dynasty aloud. The Tian brothers had often aided them and secretly cultivated their friendship.

Swordsmen use force to defy the law; as harsh as Qin law was toward wandering swordsmen, so fierce was the swordsmen's hatred for the Qin dynasty!

The Governor of Jiaodong Commandery bestowed favor on the common folk, giving land to the left-side households of the village gates, and those who answered his call came in an endless stream. But men of wandering swordsman stock would rather go landless themselves, living in misery, than swallow such charity tossed to them like scraps!

These men, therefore, would be the Tian brothers' greatest internal allies.

After assigning men to spread the word through every county of Qi and mobilize the wandering swordsmen, Tian Dan added: "There is a third point. Relying on the strength of our family alone will not suffice; all the Tian clans must rise together. Though you and I have renown among the wandering swordsmen, we are after all young, and our bloodline is distant. It will be hard to command our clan elders. We must find someone whom all the Tian clans will recognize, and act in his name..."

Tian Rong understood at once: "Prince Tian Jia, the younger brother of King Jian of Qi, is hiding not far from here in Qiancheng County, under an assumed name. I have aided him before. I will send men at once to bring him here!"

Tian Dan struck the table: "Excellent! Prince Jia has long been known for his virtue. Now that we wish to raise a great cause, he is the very man we need. With this, we will also have a banner for restoring Qi!"

His ambition surging, he declared: "Thus, with three lines of action advancing together, the four commanderies and seventy-two cities of Qi will be like a boiling cauldron. Two thousand li of rivers and hills changing color in a single morning — it is by no means impossible! You and I, brothers, may also achieve a feat equal to Lord Anping's, and leave our names to shine through a thousand autumns!"

The ripples continued to tremble and spread. By mid-third month, the commanderies of Qi were in a subtle state.

A light skiff departed from Di County, following the Ji River out to sea. An old boatman who knew the waters well, carrying sons of the Tian clan, plied the oars and sculls, skirting the patrolling Jiaodong naval forces, making for Shamen Island where sea bandits gathered thick as clouds...

Meanwhile, in the marketplaces of Di County, the rumor that "Qin Shi Huang has been assassinated and is dead" gradually spread. The errant youths who had once received the Tian brothers' kindness gathered quietly at nightfall, murmuring together in low voices, the bonfire light flickering across their faces, dim and unreadable...

The Tian Dan brothers were not the only ones making covert moves. The forced relocation of the Jiaodong Tian clans had filled the Tian aristocrats everywhere with a sense of urgency. And so in Linzi, in Jibei, in Xue Commandery, in Langya — everywhere, men were spreading whispered rumors that "the Emperor is dead."

When ordinary common folk heard it, they merely uttered an "Oh" and then began to worry whether the world would descend into chaos, making their livelihoods even harder. The wandering swordsmen who hated the Qin dynasty's harsh rule, upon hearing this news, secretly clapped their hands in delight.

The Tian aristocrats were even more jubilant, dusting off their caps in mutual congratulation.

The people had been crushed too long beneath this great mountain. The Tian clans yearned to restore Qi; the wandering swordsmen yearned for some change in the world, for the freedom and pleasure of former days to return...

Rumors swirled on all sides. The seventy-two cities and two thousand li of rivers and hills of Qi were like a cauldron about to boil over. Dangerous white smoke rose from every city; the idle chatter in the marketplaces grew day by day, building toward a seething, sky-churning momentum.

Even in Jimo City in Jiaodong, where the Tian clans had been swept clean and public order was at its best, men were secretly spreading rumors.

Those sturdy young fellows in brown clothes and cloth caps, those disheveled youths barely past their capping age — all of them former wandering swordsmen. Though no swords hung at their waists, whether they shouldered carrying poles or pushed handcarts, each busy with his own lowly trade, when they met on the road, the meaningful glances they exchanged were impossible to miss...

Hearts were panicked and uneasy. Anyone could see that if this went on, chaos in Qi would soon erupt!

It was in this atmosphere thick with peril that a crisp sound of a gong rang out from the district school in Jimo City!

Clang! Clang! Clang!

The sound of gongs rang out unceasingly, spreading from the east side of Jimo's inner city to the west, cutting short the murmurs and whispers in the marketplace. Scholars, merchants, farmers — all raised their heads to listen…

A year ago, when Commandery Governor Heifu first arrived in Jimo, some Confucian scholars, thinking the authorities meant to ban private academies, stirred up trouble and made a racket at the village school. Afterwards, Heifu merely punished the ringleaders and, following the example of Zichan of Zheng, did not tear down the village school — but he did change the rules. From then on, scholars no longer held the right to beat the drum and summon the common people for public debate; only the authorities held that power!

After that, whenever any law or decree was to be promulgated, gongs and drums would be sounded to summon the people.

Now, hearing the gongs, the people of Jimo instinctively flocked in that direction. By the time they reached the village school, the crowd surging in from all directions was already packed shoulder to shoulder, jammed so tight not a drop of water could trickle through.

Although Commandery Governor Heifu said the village school was a window for communication between officials and people, this window was not the least bit accessible to the common folk. The commoners were all kept at bay beyond ten paces, while stern Qin soldiers, weapons in hand, guarded the officials within — no lurking cutthroat could get anywhere near them.

"It's the Commandery Governor!"

Those at the front, those with sharp eyes, all saw standing atop the village school drum platform a man of middling stature, wearing a minister's cap, black robes, a blue ribbon and silver seal — a high official standing with his hand on his sword!

It was none other than the Commandery Governor of Jiaodong, Heifu!

The crowd buzzed with discussion, a boiling din rising to the heavens. They all wanted to know: what did the Commandery Governor summon everyone here today to say?

Seeing that enough people had gathered, Heifu nodded that they could begin. Chen Ping beside him immediately handed over a speaking trumpet rolled from copper sheet…

This, of course, was another of Heifu's inventions. In the past, when Jimo officials summoned the common people to the village school, they relied on this object's faint amplifying power to promulgate government decrees. Heifu rarely spoke himself; at most, he would stand to the side and lend his presence.

But today, Heifu personally took the speaking trumpet, cleared his throat, and said:

"I, the Commandery Governor, stand here today to summon the people of the commandery for one matter alone — by His Majesty's command, to proclaim his oral decree!"

"The Emperor's oral decree?"

The crowd looked at one another in bewilderment. Wasn't it said that the First Emperor of Qin had been assassinated and died? Where would an oral decree come from?

"He must be dead. The authorities are saying this to calm people's hearts — or else it's his final edict…"

Some who wished the First Emperor dead, who longed for the world to descend into chaos at once, whispered furtively among the crowd. But they quickly fell silent, because Heifu had begun to speak again!

"His Majesty has one sentence, which he bade me tell the people of Jiaodong."

Heifu swept his gaze over the crowd, raised the copper speaking trumpet, and roared, pausing between each word:

"We are safe, and all under Heaven is safe! Are the black-headed folk safe?"

…

PS: Joined Qidian's burst update event. From September 30 to October 6, guaranteed 8,000 characters. Alright, it's not much actually, but at least this salted fish flipped over. I'll aim for three chapters a day starting tomorrow, or two big 4,000-character chapters when I'm too busy.

So everyone, please click into the event page (any chapter, there's a link at the end of each chapter — one click gets you in). One account can only give one like. Whether you're reading the official version or a pirated one, come click and give me a like, help me scrape together ten thousand likes — makes me look better, heh heh.

(End of chapter)