Chapter 581: Ten Birds in the Forest

"Congratulations, my lord!"

With the outsiders all gone, and even newcomers like Cao Can, who had joined less than two years ago, having withdrawn, leaving only himself and Gong Ao—the two "trusted confidants"—Chen Ping openly and unreservedly congratulated Heifu, addressing him as "my lord."

During the three months Heifu was away from Jiaodong, dispatched from the commandery to suppress the rebellion, Chen Ping, in his capacity as "Commandery Administrator's Chief Clerk," had helped him stabilize the home front. Coordinating with the Supervisory Censor and the Commandery Assistant, not only did he prevent unrest in Jiaodong, but during the period when Heifu had just quelled the chaos in Linzi, he steadily provided logistical supplies and even managed to "take in" a portion of the commoners who had fled the fighting in Linzi Commandery to seek refuge in Jiaodong—a contribution that could not go unrecognized.

Heifu intended to petition the court for recognition on his behalf afterward, but Chen Ping declined.

His reason, which he told Heifu in private, was: "Years ago, during the campaign against the Xiongnu, Chen Ping already made a name for himself in the northern lands. If my rank were to rise further, I fear I could no longer remain at my lord's side as an advisor..."

These words made Gong Ao, who had been feeling quite pleased with himself after being made a "Fifth Rank Grandee" for his merit in slaying enemy generals and seizing their banners, freeze.

The man he was loyal to was the Heifu who, to fulfill the promise of "bringing you all home," personally ventured into danger and feigned surrender. The Heifu who, starting as a mere commoner, led a band of fellow mud-legged grassroots brothers through the raging torrent of these chaotic times, hacking out a path by sheer force, and telling them, "Are lords and ministers, generals and chancellors born into their kind?" It was not the court, which Gong Ao had long ago come to scorn, and even less the emperor who, after making use of the Southern Commandery soldiers, cast them aside in the southern wilderness of Yuzhang, treating exile as a reward...

The thing Gong Ao took the most pride and satisfaction in was that, at the time of Heifu's wedding, he alone resolutely resigned his post and traveled a thousand li north to hold the reins of Heifu's secondary carriage. He then remained at his side, following him step by step as he rose ever higher, striking the Xiongnu in the north and pacifying the coast in the east, drawing the sidelong glances of all under heaven—this, he felt, was the conduct of a true man!

Not only had his horizons broadened considerably, but his rank had also climbed higher and higher, far surpassing Li Xian, Dongmen Bao, and Xiao Tao, who had remained in Yuzhang as county sheriffs, let alone Ji Ying, the very first to follow Heifu. Gong Ao was quite self-satisfied about this.

Yet Chen Ping's words had suddenly brought him to a realization.

Indeed, if his own rank rose further, reaching the level of "Minister," it would no longer be appropriate for him to continue serving as Heifu's "retainer." One day, he might be summoned away by the court for an official appointment. When that time came, could he really resign and abandon his seal as he had in the past?

And so he could not help but admire Chen Ping—that fellow was clever, knowing to conceal his achievements.

Unfortunately, Gong Ao's rank had already been conferred and could not be returned. He could only brood inwardly, resolving that in future similar situations, he must avoid standing out and earning merit.

As for Chen Ping, Heifu did not act with selfless impartiality and insist on petitioning for recognition on his behalf. Instead, he privately gifted him four hundred thousand coins; Gong Ao also received two hundred thousand coins. Heifu said this was their "share of the profits" from the sugarcane fields in Southern Commandery...

Gong Ao did not understand what "share of the profits" meant. He simply continued to concentrate intently, listening to the conversation between Heifu and Chen Ping. Truly, every sentence carried meaning, every word held learning.

"What are you congratulating me for? My honored title as Grand Elder of the Masses?"

Heifu replied somewhat absently as he looked over the documents Chen Ping had brought from the commandery office. Having risen two ranks in one leap and now standing just a step away from his long-cherished wish of enfeoffment as a marquis, Heifu had long since lost the novelty he'd felt when he captured bandits in Anlu County and became a First Rank Gentleman, or the delight he'd experienced when he took heads in the Battle of Waihuang and gained rank. After all, with promotions, after enough times, one eventually grows numb.

He set down the dossier and said: "You should know, His Majesty bestowed upon me the crimson robes. But those crimson robes and deep garments were dyed red with the blood of tens of thousands! From now on, when the name Heifu is mentioned, people will recall how I oversaw the execution of over a thousand white-haired elders in Linzi, and remember the infamy of my proposal to the emperor to nail rebels to the posts of waystation roads. Those who hate me under heaven are now tenfold, a hundredfold more than before. Is this truly worthy of congratulations?"

Chen Ping, however, smiled and said: "The people of Zhao can remember the enmity of Bai Qi's massacre at Changping and constantly seek vengeance against Qin because the parents, brothers, wives, and children of those four hundred fifty thousand Zhao men still remain. If those people were displaced and destitute, living in constant peril, then even if they still remembered Changping, they would be powerless to do anything about it. Of course, Zhao's neighboring states, like Yan, would remember all this, but what they feel toward Lord Wu'an, toward Qin, would no longer be hatred—it would be awe and fear!"

"The situation now is similar. The Tian rebels and traitors are all dead. The families of the rebel masses have either fled or been captured. Those captured are to be sent to the Great Wall, Mount Li, Zhangye, and Liaodong to perform hard labor. Their hatred cannot harm my lord in the slightest. As for their neighbors, their fellow villagers, and even the people of the realm—aside from those rebels bent on overthrowing Qin and restoring the old order—when ordinary people hear of this, they will feel more fear than resentment toward my lord..."

After saying all this in one breath, Chen Ping concluded: "There is also a common saying in my hometown: 'Ten birds in the forest are not worth one bird in the hand!' Right now, whether the realm fears my lord or resents him, it does no real harm. On the contrary, the people of Jiaodong are quite grateful to my lord—and that is the most important matter at present."

This was something Heifu had understood when the nobles, magnates, scholars, and commoners of the entire commandery greeted him by the banks of the Wei River.

People always gravitate toward benefit and shun harm. Because Heifu had acted first, either exterminating or relocating the various Tian clans of Jiaodong, and had also taken advantage of Qin Shi Huang's eastern inspection tour to strengthen public security and crack down on vigilante activity, he had fundamentally severed the source of rebellion.

Thus, when the assassination plot occurred in Langya and arrests were being made everywhere, when ten thousand rose in revolt in Linzi Commandery, sweeping through several counties and nearly causing Linzi itself to switch banners, when the belated remedy in Jibei failed and the various Tian clans rose up, spreading chaos through half the commandery—only Jiaodong saw mere scattered incidents of vigilante troublemaking, easily resolved as "public order issues."

When Heifu assembled the grand armies of various commanderies and fought the rebel masses at Gaotang, with tens of thousands of soldiers and civilians dead or wounded and over a hundred thousand displaced, even more refugees from Linzi fled to Jiaodong seeking shelter.

And so, in Jiaodong Commandery, aside from the old Jiang-Qi clans and the established interests backed by the authorities, like the left-side residents who had gained land, the scholars and commoners of every stratum, seeing the withering desolation and chaos of the once wealthy and flourishing neighboring Linzi, secretly breathed sighs of relief...

"Thankfully, the Commandery Governor of Jiaodong is a capable official!"

Later, when captured rebels were brought by officials to the waystations and nailed alive onto wooden frames, the locals of Jiaodong, while feeling a pang of sympathetic dread, also thought: "How fortunate that Governor Wei treats the people of Jiaodong kindly and has never punished without first instructing."

Such is human psychology—so long as the fire does not reach the beams of one's own house, one is content to watch the blaze from across the river.

Law-abiding folk are innocent, rebels deserve their fate—this was the view of most Jiaodong commoners. As for the agonized wails of the prisoners, walk a little farther away, cover your ears, and gradually the sound naturally fades. And by the way, warn the young ones in your own family: "Do not learn from those who plot treason. It harms yourselves and harms your families."

In short, over these three months, Heifu's reputation in Jiaodong had soared from the previous "amiable" to "revered." This was precisely the "one bird in the hand" that Chen Ping spoke of!

In Chen Ping's view, this was something Heifu had planned long ago. What appeared to be staining himself with blood in self-defilement was, in truth, spreading his awe-inspiring name far and wide!

"Therefore, what I wish to congratulate my lord on is not my lord's ennoblement as Grand Elder of the Masses, but rather..."

Chen Ping bowed deeply to Heifu with clasped hands: "... rather, the burrow of Jiaodong is now complete!"

The rough-and-tumble Gong Ao, however, was utterly baffled. The dialogue between the two men was laden with metaphors he could not grasp at all. For instance, what bird? What burrow? What exactly did they mean!

Chen Ping explained: "With a bird in hand, the bird enters the burrow. When its wings are fully fledged, it can spread them and take flight."

As he spoke, he glanced at Heifu. This was a probe, but Heifu did not rebuke him. He merely shook his head, neither approving nor disapproving.

This reminded Gong Ao of many years ago. Back then, he and the newly arrived Chen Ping had not been on good terms, until one day he misspoke, saying, "Yuzhang is the Commandery Governor's backyard!" and was sternly rebuked by Heifu. Afterward, Chen Ping had sought him out and said that he deeply agreed with that statement! That incident served as a turning point, and their relationship gradually improved. Now, one civil and one military, they had become Heifu's right and left arms. (Chapter 425)

Gong Ao seemed to understand a little.

But just as he had laboriously grasped one thing, Chen Ping began speaking words he could not understand again: "My lord, within this burrow, there still remains one hidden peril. Although that lot brought it upon themselves and lost favor, as this sun gradually sets, who knows whether one day they might be employed again? When that time comes, the situation in Jiaodong will once again be subject to variables. My lord, if you strike a snake and do not kill it, harm will follow in the end. To eliminate evil, you must be thorough!"

"Understood."

Heifu finally spoke. Chen Ping was right. The only group that could potentially alter the emperor's thoughts and plans regarding Jiaodong in the future remained. They could not be left unguarded against. In any case, enmity had already been formed, and he happened to have a pile of damning material on them in hand. How could he not kick them when they were down?

"But this time, that lot have shown their cloven hooves far too much. It won't even require me to act personally—there will naturally be others who will gleefully do the job for me..."

In mid-July, Qin Shi Huang, who had already reached Jiujiang Commandery, received secret reports from the Commandery Assistants of Jiaodong and Linzi Commanderies. The reports stated that during the investigation of the rebels, it had been discovered that certain fangshi and alchemists had participated in the rebellion of the various Tian clans, acting as liaisons with powerful families and vigilantes. Even more shocking was...

"Furthermore, captured rebels have confessed that the rumor of His Majesty having been assassinated and killed was also spread by the fangshi and alchemists close to the throne!"

(End of Chapter)