Chapter 57: The Scarlet Headband

As the saying goes, the people take food as heaven, the state takes grain as its foundation. In the state of Qin, Xianyang in Guanzhong specially established the "Grain Inner Clerk" to manage the empire's granaries and provisions — it is said the Xianyang Granary stored a hundred thousand shi of grain, and the Yueyang Granary stored twenty thousand shi.

The local counties also all set up granaries, managed by the "Granary Se Fu." Like the Artisan Master, the Granary Se Fu held a rank of two hundred shi, equivalent to a later-era county grain bureau chief.

The Anlu County granary was located in the official temple district. These round earthen grain-storage silos were tightly protected by walls, with county soldiers patrolling inside and out. Without the black-character written approval of the County Magistrate or County Deputy, no one could hope to steal so much as half a grain from here!

The area was roughly divided into three sections: the fodder granary for storing hay and straw, the grain granary for storing unhusked grain, and the rice granary for storing husked rice and millet.

Between the grain granary and the rice granary was a long building. It had no walls, only a tiled awning supported overhead. Beneath the awning stood rows of stone mortars, with wooden pestles placed beside them.

Every day, the Granary Se Fu would dispatch granary assistant clerks to fetch several hundred shi of newly harvested autumn grain from the grain granary, transport it into the long building, and have the bondservant women serving sentences inside pound it into brown rice and polished rice, then move it to the rice granary for storage.

Spring, summer, autumn, winter — regardless of cold or heat — these pitiful female convicts had to keep lifting heavy pestles to pound grain. The official salaries of county officials and the rations of frontline soldiers were all pounded out by them, day after day.

If they could not complete the work, they were not allowed to rest. Many who had done it for a few years found their arms nearly ruined. No wonder "pounding" could rank alongside the male convicts' "wall-building" as the most terrifying penal labor.

On the first day of the twelfth month, the bondservant women still rose early as usual and, under the curses of the granary assistant clerk, began the rice-pounding work. As convicts, dressed in thin clothing and unable to eat the fine rice they pounded, they naturally had no enthusiasm for the work. They merely raised and lowered the wooden pestles numbly — raise, lower, raise, lower — with very low efficiency. Fortunately, it was winter, and the laws granted special leniency: each day they only had to do two-thirds of the summer workload.

But even so, they still had to finish pounding two shi of grain each day, which took three or four double-hours. The most miserable were the bondservant women assigned to pound polished rice, who had to work from early morning until night to finish.

Just as the hundred-odd bondservant women were working in silence, like walking corpses, a granary assistant clerk suddenly arrived, singled out two adult bondservant women of similar build, and ordered them to come out.

The two disheveled, grimy bondservant women stepped out uneasily and followed the granary assistant out of the shed, arriving at the open ground outside. One look and they were stunned — the Granary Se Fu and the County Artisan Master, two ranked senior officials of the county, were both here!

The bondservant women hurriedly prostrated themselves and kowtowed. One, guessing she had committed another offense, looked worried; the other guessed that perhaps family had come to ransom her, and joy crept onto her brow...

In the end, they were simply assigned new work — still pounding grain.

But the difference was this: the granary assistant and the County Artisan Master and others standing by required the two bondservant women to work, one using an ordinary pestle and mortar, the other using a device placed on the ground — the "treadle tilt-hammer."

The two women had no choice but to obey and begin working. One raised the wooden pestle high; the other continuously used her body weight to tread the tilt-hammer's wooden lever up and down...

Half a double-hour later, Artisan Master Shi called a halt, then impatiently walked over to the wooden rice-measure bucket and personally inspected how much grain each of the two women had pounded.

"The pestle and mortar pounded three dou; the treadle tilt-hammer pounded... five dou!"

He raised his head in delighted surprise, then questioned the two bondservant women. As expected, the one using the pestle and mortar was as tired as usual. The one using the treadle tilt-hammer had also wanted to say she was tired, hoping to rest more, but after being fiercely intimidated by the officials, she told the truth: she was actually not tired at all and could pound more.

Heifu's brother-in-law Yuan watched this scene and finally breathed a sigh of relief. He was an honest, simple craftsman. In the past, within his hamlet, the biggest official he had ever seen was the village grain-petty officer on inspection. Now he had to stand before two hundred-shi officials. Without Heifu beside him, never mind speaking, he dared not even breathe loudly...

However, Artisan Master Shi was cautious. After discussing with the Granary Se Fu, the two decided to pick another pair of bondservant women to try again.

So Yuan's heart rose into his throat once more. He stared fixedly at the rice-pounders, terrified that the bondservant woman using the treadle tilt-hammer might slack off, causing the amount of pounded rice to fall short.

Another half double-hour passed. The new results were out. This time, the one using the pestle and mortar had still only pounded three and a half dou, while the treadle tilt-hammer had pounded five dou and five sheng!

The County Artisan Master had no more doubts in his mind and was immediately overjoyed.

"Using it unskilled, she still pounded this much. Once proficient, just as that Heifu recorded, pounding six or seven dou in half a double-hour will be no problem!"

The more the County Artisan Master looked at this treadle tilt-hammer, the more he liked it. The device was simple in structure, the materials were available everywhere, and the construction cost was certainly cheap. As for use, it was even more convenient — learned in one go, even a half-grown child could sit on it and pound rice.

"This device perfectly matches our state's Artisan Statutes' principle of 'supreme utility above all.' I must go tell the County Magistrate at once!"

If this device were presented upward, he would certainly receive commendation. The County Artisan Master felt that the punishment he had suffered last year for producing implements not up to standard could be wiped clean — he might even accumulate some merit points!

The County Artisan Master was lost in wild fancies, while the Granary Se Fu beside him was also beaming with joy.

As the official managing provisions, who could understand this device's wondrous utility better than the Granary Se Fu? Anlu's land was fertile and by no means lacked grain. The trouble was that bondservants were limited, and their work efficiency was low. So it was often the case that there was not enough white rice to distribute, yet they could only stare anxiously at a huge pile of unhusked grain...

When distributing salaries, they couldn't just give officials unhusked grain directly, could they? Their colleagues' faces would darken. When sending provisions to the front lines, they couldn't transport unhusked grain directly either — were they supposed to make the soldiers pound rice for half a double-hour before cooking their meals when it was time to fight?

Now, this difficult problem had been solved by the treadle tilt-hammer. If it could be promoted throughout the county, not only would ordinary farming households' rice-pounding efficiency greatly increase, but the greatest beneficiary would be the public authorities. If all hundred-odd female convicts in Anlu County sentenced to "pounding" switched to the treadle tilt-hammer, how much more grain could they pound each day? At least one shi!

The Granary Se Fu calculated: twenty dou of unhusked millet could be pounded into ten dou of millet. Ten dou of unhusked rice could be pounded into six and two-thirds dou of rice... Calculated this way, on the original basis, if he wished, he could make the county granary produce over ten thousand extra shi of rice every year!

"This is a great merit — enough to earn me first place in the entire commandery in next year's performance evaluation!"

As the Granary Se Fu thought this, his gaze met the County Artisan Master's.

The County Artisan Master smiled amiably: "Many thanks to the Granary Se Fu for your help in proving this device's wondrous utility. I shall report to the County Magistrate at once and order the woodworking workshop's craftsmen to rush and build a batch..."

The Granary Se Fu was not to be outdone: "It should be I thanking the County Artisan Master. This device concerns the granaries and falls within my authority — it is clearly under my jurisdiction. Let me be the one to inform the County Magistrate!"

The County Artisan Master's face stiffened. Pointing at Yuan standing nearby, he said: "The Granary Se Fu is mistaken here. This device was brought in by an artisan — he is under my authority. If you try to seize it, you are overstepping your jurisdiction."

"The County Artisan Master misunderstands."

The Granary Se Fu chuckled, placing a hand on the County Artisan Master's shoulder: "How about this — since this matter concerns both you and me, why don't we report it together?"

The two were speaking in low voices, but Yuan stood to the side, unbearably awkward. He kept looking back, hoping Heifu would finish his business and return soon. Otherwise, if the two superior officials questioned him in a moment, what was he supposed to do?

Sure enough, once the County Artisan Master and the Granary Se Fu had finished dividing the spoils, they turned back and began questioning him. But this tongue-tied Yuan gaped speechlessly, unable to utter a single word.

"You, artisan... is this device your work or not? We can't get anything out of you." The County Artisan Master had a headache. Without asking for specifics, how were they to petition for credit for Yuan — and conveniently count a share of the merit for themselves?

Just then, from a government office courtyard not far from the county granary, a burst of exclamations rang out, followed by a continuous wave of clapping and sounds of praise...

The minor clerks attending nearby all turned their heads to look in that direction. The County Artisan Master and the Granary Se Fu, who had been dividing the credit to the side, also raised their heads, puzzled.

That courtyard was the office of the Chief Clerk. Normally it was exceptionally quiet — what was going on today?

Before long, a granary assistant clerk, his face full of excitement, walked over and told them what had happened.

"According to custom, on the first day of the twelfth month, the Chief Clerk opens his hall to examine officials. Just now, there was a Gongshi who had been conscripted by the county to serve as a Village Head. The Chief Clerk tested him with twenty questions on legal statutes and answers, and this man actually answered every single one correctly!"

"All twenty questions correct? That impressive!"

The County Artisan Master and the Granary Se Fu looked at each other. The state of Qin took law as its guiding principle; anyone serving as an official had to know the legal statutes. When they became officials, they too had first to pass the Chief Clerk's test, each examined on the statutes relevant to their own work — the Artisan Statutes, the Equalizing Artisans Statute, the Granary Statutes, the Provisions Relay Statute, and so on.

Generally speaking, answering fourteen or fifteen out of twenty correctly meant you passed; sixteen or seventeen was already good; eighteen or nineteen was excellent.

As for answering all twenty correctly? That probably only happened once every year or two.

"Could that man be a disciple of the legal academy?" the Granary Se Fu asked. If it were a legal academy disciple who had studied the laws for three years, it was still possible.

"Just a village Gongshi. A month ago he didn't even know the legal statutes. Oh, right — he's the one who not long ago captured three bandits, was appointed Gongshi, and became famous throughout the county!"

"Him?"

Hearing this, the County Artisan Master immediately understood who it was. And Yuan, who had stood awkwardly for over a double-hour without saying half a sentence, also cried out in delighted surprise.

"Is it Heifu?"

"Right, the name is Heifu." The granary assistant clerk said, pointing toward the county granary gate: "Look! He's coming!"

Everyone looked over and saw a tall, sturdy young man striding toward them. His former black-cloth garment had been changed for a crimson-colored robe, and on his feet he wore a pair of leg wrappings. His hair bun was still wrapped in brown cloth, but above his forehead, there was now an extra flash of blood-red — a scarlet headband!

All along the way, the petty assistant officials on both sides bowed to Heifu with clasped hands, and Heifu merely returned the courtesy as an equal.

When he reached the County Artisan and the Granary Overseer, he no longer knelt in obeisance as before, but instead brought his hands together and gave them a slight bow.

"This humble official arrived late; I hope the two senior officials will not take offense."

The County Artisan did not dare be as negligent as when they first met that morning. Together with the Granary Overseer, he slightly clasped his hands toward Heifu and treated him with courtesy...

A Qin village headman was a petty official; there was no special official robe. The red headscarf and crimson clothes were precisely his insignia.

At this very moment, Heifu was no longer an ordinary commoner. After passing the Chief Clerk's assessment, he was now Huyang Village Headman — a "Qin Official"!

(End of chapter)