Chapter 60: Wandering Crime

"I beg the Village Chief to let me go!"

Heifu heard the voice and looked over — he saw a man with disheveled hair and a grimy face, still wearing a short coarse tunic in the dead of winter, bound tightly with a hemp rope to a pillar in the stable.

He asked the people beside him, "Who is this?"

Thief-Catcher Dongmen Bao answered, "This is a thief we just captured and brought back."

"I'm no thief!" The young man started shouting again. Though his body was bound fast, he craned his neck with all his might and yelled, "Village Chief, this humble man is just an ordinary rank-and-file soldier — I've truly been wronged!"

"Wronged?"

Dongmen Bao sneered, raised his fist, and brandished it at the man to intimidate him. "Mao, on a snowy day like this, instead of staying properly at home, you were loitering and skulking about alone in Poplar Hamlet — what were you up to?"

The young man called "Mao" shrank back and muttered, "I... I was visiting a friend..."

"Visiting a friend? Who were you visiting? Where does he live? Can he vouch for you? You're from Little Bamboo Hamlet, with no kin or connections in Poplar Hamlet. You say you were visiting a friend, yet you didn't go through the main gate — instead you were skulking outside the hamlet wall. I'd say you were looking to climb the wall and do some thieving!"

Li Xian also joined in questioning the man. Compared to Dongmen Bao, Li Xian's interrogation was far more detailed — every question struck at the heart of the matter, leaving Mao with nothing to say, and making Heifu think even more highly of him.

As it turned out, as rural beat officers, one of the daily duties of the village station's subordinate staff was to patrol their assigned area. If they spotted a sturdy man wandering about without engaging in productive labor, they had to question his identity. If the person being questioned showed alarm and turned to flee, they could even arrest him on the spot!

This morning, after the snow stopped, Thief-Catcher Dongmen Bao and several others at the station discussed the matter. They felt that every winter, thieves and bandits grew more numerous, so he went out on patrol with Li Xian and Xiao Tao.

Sure enough, at Poplar Hamlet east of the Huyang Village Station, they found the rank-and-file soldier Mao skulking about furtively, loitering beside a collapsed section of the hamlet wall. Dongmen Bao shouted a challenge, and Mao immediately turned and ran. They gave chase, and after running several hundred paces, they seized him and brought him back to the station to be locked up.

"Sir Thief-Catcher, you look fierce and your voice is loud — I thought you were a bandit, so of course I ran! Village Chief, I truly haven't turned to banditry. Please let me go." Mao was still making excuses, pleading piteously.

But the others were no longer paying him any mind. This man's behavior was highly suspicious; even if he wasn't a thief, at the very least he was guilty of "wandering crime" — that is, the crime of loitering — and absolutely could not be released. They began discussing when to escort him to the county seat or the township.

One had to understand that although the village station had the responsibility of apprehending thieves and bandits, it had no authority to conduct trials or carry out punishments. At most, it could ask a few simple questions and hold someone in temporary custody for a day or two before transferring them to the county or township to be tried by the magistrate's clerk or the township bailiff.

Over the past month or so, such cases had originally been decided through discussion between Dongmen Bao and the three village constables. But since the village chief had now arrived to take up his post, the decision naturally fell to Heifu.

Heifu raised his head and looked at the sun hidden among the clouds. Since returning to this era, he had gradually acquired the skill — once possessed by old country folk in his previous life — of telling the time by looking at the sky.

"It's already past the closing of the market (5 p. m.). Whether we send him to the county seat or the township, it's a bit late. The roads are snowy and slippery, and things can easily go wrong at night. Better to escort him out first thing tomorrow morning."

As he spoke, he asked further, "Is there a lockup at the station?"

Xiao Tao was about to answer, but Yu Liang cut in, "There is — it's in the front courtyard!"

Heifu nodded. "You two, take him there and lock him up."

"Yes!"

The lockup was the temporary detention cell at the village station compound. Seeing that Mao's arms, legs, and feet were red and swollen from the cold, Heifu added, "Give him extra straw to hold while he sleeps. Don't let him freeze to death during the night."

After Mao had been taken away by Yu Liang and Xiao Tao, Heifu, accompanied by Old Man Pu, Dongmen Bao, and Li Xian, continued familiarizing himself with the various areas of the station compound.

Stepping through the crude but sturdy courtyard gate, he saw that inside there were two courtyards, one in front and one in back.

Flanking the front courtyard entrance were the two side rooms — that is, two small chambers. The left room was Old Man Pu's quarters, furnished with a low sleeping platform. As the station attendant, Old Man Pu was not involved in capturing thieves and bandits; his sole duty was receiving and seeing off visitors. He had to keep watch by the gate. If passing travelers came to ask for lodging, or if officials on assignment stopped by for provisions or to feed their horses, he had to attend to them.

The right room held only a sitting mat and a small desk. A small gong hung beside it, and a window opened to the outside. Sitting there, one could take in the entire road situation at a glance.

Old Man Pu explained, "I only watch the gate at night. During the day, one of the constables must sit here and keep an eye on the road. When carts, horses, or pedestrians pass by, he goes out to question them. If there's an alarm, he must immediately strike the gong."

A village station was a place of stopping. Much like a highway checkpoint in later ages, maintaining road security and inspecting travelers was a basic function of the station compound. Heifu had been stopped and questioned at station compounds along the way every time he traveled to and from the county seat, so he was long familiar with this. Thus, in Qin, unless you traveled furtively through the dark of night, you would have your identity checked at every stretch of the road.

Ah, poor Lord Shang. When he fled back then, he must have avoided the station compounds all along the way, trudging with difficulty through the underbrush. What feelings did he have, one wondered, toward the system he had personally established? Deep gratification? Or belated remorse?

Inside the courtyard, the room on the left was the latrine. Next to the latrine was the lockup for detaining prisoners.

Heifu went over for a look. The lockup was cramped and narrow, and as he drew near, a rank stench of urine assailed him. The rank-and-file soldier Mao lay dejectedly in the straw. Perhaps too hungry to have any strength left, he was no longer shouting.

This man had probably been driven to desperation and attempted theft without success. At the very least, he would be convicted of the crime of loitering. What awaited him was likely one to three years of penal labor, and Anlu's civil engineering workforce would gain yet another laborer...

After Xiao Tao and Yu Liang had locked the door of the lockup, Heifu sent them off to watch the road at the gate.

Heifu then circled around to the right side of the courtyard, where the weapons room was located. A village chief was a military officer permitted to possess arms. This room held spears, halberds, bows, swords, and dagger-axes — the five weapons — as well as two suits of armor. If they applied to the county, they could even be issued standard military weapons: crossbows.

Heifu did not rush to inspect the weapons. His attention was drawn to the small watchtower standing between the front and back courtyards.

The watchtower was three zhang tall, with a pointed, sloping top. Inside was a ladder for ascending and descending, with steps three chi wide. On the second floor of the watchtower was a stove, where a fire could be lit to produce smoke...

Without needing anyone to explain, Heifu understood at once: "Although Anlu County has seen no warfare for many years, it borders the Chu region of E after all. Just two years ago, the entire commandery was put on full alert. So the station compound must also serve as a defensive stronghold. No wonder a trench was dug around the outside of the compound. If war breaks out between the two states and Chu soldiers cross the river and raid this far, I'll have no choice but to bar the gate and defend, then light the beacon fire in the watchtower to send a warning to the county seat..."

Skirting the watchtower, he reached the back courtyard. The back courtyard was much larger than the front one. In the center stood a mulberry tree, its leaves all fallen. On the left was a row of single-story buildings — these were the guest quarters for lodging traveling officials on assignment. On the right was another row of side rooms; the living quarters for Heifu, the thief-catcher, the constables, and the courier were all here, with the kitchen beside them.

At this point, Old Man Pu asked to be excused — he had to go to the kitchen and see to the preparation of the evening meal.

Continuing forward, the small hall directly opposite was the office of Heifu, the master of this village station.

This hall had seen some years. A layer of snow had accumulated on the roof, with many withered stalks of grass poking through. The square bricks at the doorway were pitted and uneven, some even broken. The wooden door creaked loudly. Inside, the walls were somewhat mottled, but the floor and the desk had been swept and wiped spotlessly clean.

"When word came from the county that Heifu would take up his post after the La Sacrifice, I had Old Man Pu clean it up thoroughly well in advance."

Dongmen Bao declared with high morale, "Now that Heifu is here, we can really show our mettle at this Huyang Village Station!"

"I'll be counting on all of you." Heifu smiled and nodded, then said to Li Xian, "Old Man Pu tells me that you've been keeping the station's documents for the past month or so. Bring them out first for an inspection."

At this station, Old Man Pu, Yu Liang, and Xiao Tao were illiterate. Dongmen Bao and Ji Ying had a rough knowledge of characters. And aside from Heifu, the only person who could write official documents was Li Xian, who came from a better-off family. That was why, though he was a constable, his importance at the station exceeded that of Xiao Tao and Yu Liang, and his status was second only to that of Thief-Catcher Dongmen Bao.

Li Xian immediately brought out all the two-chi wooden tablets, documents, and even the wanted notices from the room for Heifu to review.

Heifu sat down beside the writing desk and began examining the documents while his thoughts started to churn.

Unlike the Han dynasty's system of "one village station per ten hamlets, ten village stations per township," the Qin-dynasty village station was not a subordinate unit of the township, but belonged directly to the county's commandant system.

The village chief was also not responsible for managing hamlets and settlements, nor did he need to get involved in tedious administrative matters such as registering households or collecting taxes. He only had to manage public order in the ten nearby hamlets, supervise illegal activities, and train the constables. Occasionally, he would receive and see off passing courier officials, garrison soldiers, and government clerks — that was all.

To put it plainly, it was like a later-era neighborhood police station, with the added functions of a guesthouse and a post office. It was neither a subordinate of the township government nor a superior of the village community, yet it had to maintain public order in the area between them. So the paperwork was not particularly heavy — mostly orders from the county and township demanding the strengthening of local order and vigilance against thieves and bandits as winter set in, along with a few wanted notices.

The wanted notices were made of wooden boards, their content simple. They basically copied out the prisoner's identification record verbatim, adding physical characteristics and the crime committed, but even a sketch was lacking. Trying to catch the right person based on such information was truly rather difficult. Heifu looked them over and found that the man outside, "Mao," was indeed not one of the murderers or bandits on the wanted notices — capturing him brought no particular merit.

Heifu finished flipping through the documents and wooden tablets in half a ke. He was about to exchange a few more words with Li Xian; he was quite curious about how a man of such ability and family background had fallen so low as to become a village constable...

Unexpectedly, at that moment, a clamor arose outside.

"I'm back!"

The voice arrived before the man. Heifu raised his head and exchanged a glance with Dongmen Bao, who was idly toying with his sword hilt beside him.

No need to ask — one could tell at once that it was that fellow Ji Ying returning...

When the three of them walked out of the hall, they saw a skinny lad wrapped in thick winter clothes, his shoes covered in snow and mud, stepping into the rear courtyard — it was Ji Ying.

Ji Ying hadn't even had time to set down the back-basket on his back; the moment he spotted Heifu, he burst out laughing and came over, throwing his arms around him in a full embrace.

"Brother Heifu, you finally made it!"

He was covered head to toe in snowmelt and mud, dirtying Heifu's new clothes. Heifu raised his hands helplessly and said, "Sit down first, then we'll talk."

Ji Ying, never one to stand on ceremony, set down his back-basket and plopped himself right onto the steps. He pulled off his snow-caked, muddy shoes and complained, "Heifu... Chief, I've been working as a postal runner here for almost a month now, my legs are about to run right off! This is truly a bitter errand!"

"How many li did you cover today?" Heifu tossed him a cloth and asked with a grin.

"Three, and none of them were on the way — had to run from east to west, then west to south, and then loop all the way back around to the north..."

Ji Ying grumbled on and on, then hollered toward the kitchen, "Old Man Pu, heat some water for me! My feet are about to freeze off!"

After getting a reply from Old Man Pu, Ji Ying opened his back-basket — this was the standard kit for a Qin postal courier. The basket was covered with cloth, and the letters inside were all written on wooden tablets; a bit of rainwater seeping in would blur them.

"Huh?! Didn't I already deliver all the documents the township sent out to those three li? How come there's still one left?"

As he spoke, Ji Ying pulled out a "letter" from inside.

"You probably forgot it again." Dongmen Bao mocked Ji Ying. Over the past month, Ji Ying had already messed up twice; luckily, both were delivered on time in the end, or else he'd have had a bitter fruit to eat.

"Absolutely not! I definitely finished my deliveries today!" Ji Ying argued vehemently.

Heifu glanced at it, his expression turning to one of surprise. "Hold on — this letter has no seal. It's not an official document."

In this era, a letter was made of two wooden tablets: the lower tablet was for writing the message, and the upper tablet was blank, used to cover the contents of the lower one. Then a thin cord called a "seal-cord," made from sedge or cattail grass, was used to bind the upper and lower tablets tightly together — that made one letter.

If it was an official document, to prevent anyone from secretly opening it, they would also "seal" it — that is, smear a layer of specially made red sealing clay over the knot of the cord, and then stamp it with the official's seal.

Could it be a private letter? But by rule, aside from letters sent back by soldiers at the front, the Qin postal system did not accept private correspondence.

Ji Ying looked at the letter in his hand; it was indeed so, and he was even more astonished. "Not only is it unsealed, but the upper tablet doesn't even say who wrote it, where it's going, or who's to receive it?"

The postal clerk at the township would never send something like this to the station. The few people present looked at each other. That being the case, it wasn't a private letter either — it was an... anonymous letter?

"This must have been slipped in on the sly. Let me find out who did this, I'll make sure to teach them a good lesson!"

Ji Ying, fuming, was about to tear off the grass cord on the letter and open it to see who had written it!

"Hold it!"

"Stop!"

In the blink of an eye, Heifu and Li Xian's faces drastically changed color. They both reached out at the same time, one on each side, and grabbed Ji Ying's hand as it reached for the grass cord in a death grip!

"This letter! Must not be opened!"

(End of Chapter)