Chapter 620: Naming

The Langya Guan clan, descendants of Guan Zhong, always made careful calculations before engaging in trade.

By analyzing market conditions, the Guan clan determined that the closer one got to Jiaodong, the more expensive mink and leopard furs became. In Lüshun, for instance, they had to purchase from the local county at government-mandated prices — though the distance was short, the price margin was actually too slim to earn much.

Conversely, once the fleet left the territory under Qin rule and entered the lands of foreign barbarians, the price of mink and leopard pelts plummeted sharply!

Fur prices in Chaoxian were several times cheaper than in Liaonan! The village elders of Chaoxian were very fond of Central Plains silk and brocade, and were willing to trade ten pelts for a single bolt of cloth.

But the Guan clan did not linger in Chaoxian — seven or eight competitors were already vying there, which was enough. They continued southward, hoping to discover commercial opportunities in the land south of Chaoxian known as the "Three Han."

Yet a month after arriving in this region, Guan Tong was deeply disappointed. The local Mahan people were divided into many tribes, and their level of production was roughly equivalent to the Central Plains in the era of Yao and Shun. Each had its own chieftain — the larger ones were called chenzhi, commanding several thousand households, and the lesser ones were called yijie, ranging from a few dozen to over a hundred households, scattered among the mountains and seas. They had built no walled cities, and common folk lived in grass huts and earthen chambers that looked much like the grave mounds of the Central Plains.

The Guan clan displayed some Central Plains silk for the Mahan people, but these uncouth Mahan barbarians showed little interest in such impractical fabrics. Local custom did not prize gold, silver, or brocade; instead, they were very keen on the bronze and iron weapons carried by the Qin soldiers.

But weapons were strictly forbidden from sale by the Haidong Trading Company...

If selling was out, buying was still possible, right?

Yet the explorers sent out returned one after another, reporting that the further south one went, the fewer the mink and beaver, and the quality of the pelts was far inferior to those from the north.

The Mahan people, though they engaged in some hunting, were far more devoted to rice cultivation. Their local specialties were known for a particularly large kind of chestnut, and also a fine-tailed fowl whose tail feathers were all over five chi long, which could be used to adorn caps and hats.

But the Central Plains had plenty of similar things — shipping them back would yield no profit at all.

After making contact with Mahan, the Guan clan discovered that there was neither a market they could break into nor the goods they needed. The caravan had to change plans, halting its southward exploration and instead heading northeast along the Daishui River (the North Han River).

The Danda Mountains, which stretched across the peninsula, became very gentle in this region. After traveling for several days and crossing them, the caravan reached the territory of the "Eastern Ye" and the "Mo Kingdom."

The Ye and Mo were nomads from the vicinity of the Yan state who, after entering the peninsula several hundred years ago, had gradually merged into one people.

Unlike the Mahan, who possessed a few cattle and horses but had no idea how to ride them, only slaughtering them for meat or using them as burial offerings, the Ye and Mo people the caravan encountered mostly knew how to ride. They were bold and strong by nature, yet also warm and hospitable. Seeing the fully armed caravan, they actually came forward on their own initiative to request trade.

Some loved silk, others did not; lacquerware also depended on the individual. But there was one thing that proved invincible from Liaonan all the way to the Three Han...

And that was brown sugar!

When the Ye and Mo people, at the merchants' invitation, tasted it for the first time, their eyes went wide. Wild honey was a delicacy they were lucky to eat once a year, yet these reddish-brown hard lumps possessed a sweetness no less than honey!

Once they had tasted it, the craving set in. The Ye and Mo hunters wanted to trade for some to bring back to their tribe and share with their kin, but the only thing they could offer in exchange was the pelts in their hands.

It was a transaction that stunned the caravan. The Ye and Mo people not only traded away all the furs they had on hand, but also stripped off the fur clothing they were wearing to trade for sugar, to the point that a group of them went home stark naked. They even indicated:

"Tomorrow we will bring back even more pelts..."

This journey up the Daishui River confirmed the Guan clan's hypothesis: the farther from Jiaodong, the cheaper the furs! And roughly taking the Daishui as a dividing line, the south was warmer and more comfortable, better suited to farming than hunting. The north was bitterly cold and frozen, and abounded in mink pelts.

Upon receiving this report, Guan Tong revealed a satisfied smile:

"At least we aren't returning empty-handed. The territory the Guan clan is to operate in — we've found it!"

Compared to the Guan clan caravan's trek over mountains and rivers, Daojian had it much easier. He only needed to stay at the mouth of the Daishui River, where a brand-new fortified town was slowly taking shape.

The first thing completed was the dock. Compared to Canghai City, whose sea approaches were narrow and full of reefs, this was a natural deep-water harbor. Grain ships from Liekou continuously delivered food and clothing.

Four thousand Qin soldiers had been transferred here to fell trees, ram earth, and build the town. Near the great worksite and the army encampment, there was also an area enclosed by a wooden palisade — this was the military market. This was a common practice; over the past several hundred years, as the warring states fought, wherever the army was not stationed on the very front line within arrow-shot, a military market would inevitably spring up near the encampment, bustling and clamorous, all drawn by profit.

Daojian had obtained special permission from the army supervisor to provide the expeditionary soldiers with their personal needs: cloth for making clothes, meat for a special meal. And in the deepest part of the military market were one mysterious little tent after another, with women coming and going, hanging laundry — these were the girls under Daojian.

These women could not only take on mending and laundry work, but for a sufficient price, they were also very happy to provide special services.

"Well-fed troops are strong troops" — the saying is true. But people, especially men, also have a desire called "lust" that must be released from time to time.

No special solicitation was even needed. Every afternoon, soldiers on leave would come in small groups, heading straight for the depths of the military market. Money changed hands, and someone would lead them into those little tents. Then the sounds of men and women in pleasure would rise. The louder this decadent music, the more frequent the clinking of copper coins dropping into the jar. Whenever an officer also came to relax, Daojian would put on a beaming smile and personally escort him to the high-ranking bondmaids who provided services exclusively for officers...

Daojian did not consider his business filthy. A phrase often on his lips was: "Master Guan established the women's quarters, and Goujian set up camp prostitutes. I am merely carrying on their legacy. Where there is demand, there is supply — the pleasure of men and women is heaven's law and earth's principle!"

He even believed that his women deserved credit for the fact that this army, far from the Central Plains, could endure the tedium of garrison duty.

In their idle moments, a few of the women who had seen countless men would rest their chins on their hands and say regretfully, "It's just a pity that the Young Master General has never once come."

Indeed, in the entire army, the only person who had never entered the military market's pleasure quarters was probably Young Master Fusu.

Daojian laughed at them: "The Young Master is of royal noble blood — how could he lower himself? If he wanted a woman, he need only say the word, and the Marquis of Chaoxian and his son would be falling over themselves to find a virgin noble daughter to send to him. Would he cast his favor on the likes of you? Hurry up and wash and groom yourselves, and get back to serving the soldiers!"

To Daojian, the fact that Fusu had not sternly driven them away was already rare and commendable.

After all, this Young Master was most famous for hating evil as his enemy, for being rigid and stubborn — and camp prostitutes had always been a target of criticism by the court ministers.

What Daojian did not know was that when Fusu first heard that pleasure quarters were to be set up in the army, he had furrowed his brow. He had asked Chen Ping, who had been sent by Heifu to escort grain and was about to return to Jiaodong:

"I have heard that during the time of Duke Xian, the army did indeed have women's quarters. But Lord Shang once decreed that the military market should have no women. Now the army supervisor sends merchants bringing women, openly enticing the soldiers to debauchery — I fear..."

Having been intimidated by Heifu, Chen Ping no longer dared to act on his own authority. He answered Fusu by the book:

"Young Master, you may not know this, but though the laws and ordinances are strict, they can never overcome human desire. After the army stopped providing camp prostitutes, when Qin troops went out on campaign, there were many incidents of them violating local women. In my hometown of Yangwu, the county garrison produced several such cases. Though the perpetrators were dealt with according to military law, the reputation of the Qin army was greatly ruined by it. Hearing that Qin soldiers were coming, women fled as if from tigers and wolves."

This was unavoidable. After all, with hundreds of thousands of men at a time, good and bad mixed together, there were always a few hundred who could not control their own cocks.

"At that time, the Commandery Governor was only a platoon leader. When he heard of this, he paid out of his own pocket to send his fifty men to the village women's quarters, and thus no one violated the local women."

Having said this, Chen Ping smiled: "Seen this way, managing troops is like managing water — channeling is better than damming. Now we are on an expedition to foreign lands, which will easily take a year or more. The officers and men are lonely. Though they can eat their fill and dress warmly, once fed and clothed, their thoughts turn to lust. Rather than let them be unable to restrain themselves and violate Chaoxian women, needlessly causing discord between the Qin imperial house and its tributary, it is better to let the military market have women again. This way, we can also avoid another camp riot..."

"In that case, I thank the Army Supervisor for his kind intentions!"

In the end, Fusu heeded Chen Ping's advice and turned a blind eye to the matter, only tightening the regulation of the military market.

Seeing Fusu agree so readily, Chen Ping, after taking his leave, instead felt somewhat uneasy.

Over this past year, Fusu had changed in more than just his slightly unkempt beard. Since the camp riot incident, his thinking had also shifted greatly.

That black-and-white youth seemed to have become an adult who could tolerate a grain of sand in his eye.

That Young Master who pursued only the process seemed to have become a general who, so long as the result was achieved, could overlook the filth...

"Is this ultimately a good thing, or a bad thing? The Emperor wishes to test Fusu — could it be that my lord does as well?"

With these thoughts, Chen Ping left those waters. At the worksite, as the last section of wall was rammed into place, this new fortified town was essentially complete.

"Young Master, give this place a name!"

The officers and soldiers of the expeditionary army revered Fusu, revered their general, and they all entreated him to name this town.

As the Qin dynasty had newly opened up territories in the northern frontier, the Hexi Corridor, the Southwestern Yi, and Baiyue, naming had become a common occurrence. Whenever new territory was established, commandery-level names like "Shuofang" or "Zhangye" had to be reported to the Emperor, but counties, townships, and settlements — because there were too many — could be named by the frontline generals on their own authority.

As the commander-in-chief, Fusu unquestionably had this qualification.

The crowd's entreaty was hard to refuse. After pondering for a moment, Fusu recalled a poem.

"Vast is that Han city — built by the Yan host. Our forefathers received the Mandate, ruling the hundred Man tribes in their season. The King bestowed upon the Marquis of Han the Zhui and the Mo. He received the northern lands in their entirety, and so became their overlord. He raised the walls, he dug the moats; he parcelled the fields, he set the levies. They offered their leopard skins, the red panther and the yellow bear…"

When he had studied this poem in the past, he had not understood its meaning. Now, reciting this "Han Yi," he felt a wholly different resonance.

That was several hundred years ago, when King Xuan of Zhou strove for a restoration and launched many grand campaigns — for instance, sending Yin Jifu to subdue the Southern Huai Yi, then marching north against the Xianyun to repel foreign incursions, relocating the Marquis of Shen to Xie Town to guard the strategic southern pass, and appointing Qin Zhong, the ancestor of the Qin people, as a Grand Master and ordering him to campaign against the Western Rong.

And on the Zhou dynasty's northeastern border, the Marquis of Han was enfeoffed to expand Han City and expel the Mo people who were harassing the state of Yan. Driven out by the combined forces of Yan and Han, those Mo people fled eastward to Liaodong and Joseon, where they merged with the Hui people — thus giving rise to the present situation of numerous tribes clustered around Joseon.

Now that Fusu had marched eastward and reached this place, it could also be called "the Zhui and the Mo." And the purpose of building this city was "to raise the walls, to dig the moats." The merchants, meanwhile, were searching everywhere for pelts, making the barbarians "offer their leopard skins."

In this world, no other poem matched their circumstances so perfectly.

And so Fusu said, "We have penetrated deep into the lands of the Hui and the Mo, and in a sense we carry on the mission of the Zhou-era Marquis of Han. Since this place commands the Three Han to the south, why not simply call it 'Han City'!"

…

"Han City?"

Half a month later, when word that Fusu had named the new town "Han City" reached Jiaodong, the Commandery Governor Heifu threw an enormous tantrum at home, hurling a cup to the floor and cursing:

"Everyone says my names are inelegant — well, take a look at this trash name Fusu came up with!"

Ye Zijin had rarely seen Heifu so furious, and over such a trivial matter at that. She could not help being a little surprised.

"It carries on the spirit of 'Han Yi' and commands the land of the Three Han, hence 'Han City.' It is well-founded and well-reasoned — what is wrong with it?"

"Wrong, it's just wrong!"

Heifu shook his head and said, huffing with rage, "Anything else would be fine — just not 'Han'!"

Then he added fiercely, "Sooner or later, I'm going to change that city's name!"

"Listen to yourself."

Ye Zijin crouched down and began gathering the cup that Heifu had knocked to the floor. Her smooth hands picked up the shards one by one, and she said, as if casually:

"If the Young Master Fusu becomes the Second Emperor, then every word he speaks and every name he bestows will be golden law and jade statute. That city's name — my husband, could you change it then?"

That one sentence from his wife killed the topic entirely. Heifu lost all interest in venting:

"What do you mean by that?"

Ye Zijin turned around, her face tinged with worry. "Father wrote to say that His Majesty has been cancelling court sessions more and more often. How diligent he used to be — he would not rest until every memorial was reviewed. Now the lamps in Xianyang Palace are extinguished earlier and earlier. Perhaps he has grown lax, but given the Emperor's temperament, how could he possibly neglect governance? Father suspects it may be ill health…"

"The sovereign is often unwell, the state lacks a proper heir, and the entire court — high and low — hangs by a thread of suspense. Right now, the Eldest Young Master Fusu is far away beyond the eastern sea, out of favor. And yet word has it that His Majesty has lately grown very fond of the Young Young Master, Huhai, often praising his mastery of the statutes and ordinances. My husband, do you know who Huhai's law tutor is?"

Heifu said nothing. He crouched down, picked up a pottery shard, and held it between two fingers, placing it between his own eyes and his wife's.

Their gazes met through the sharp edge of the shard, intertwining. Outside the window, spring was bursting with life — yet the chill of that cutting edge was colder than the frost and snow beyond the eastern sea.

"Of course I know."

Heifu smiled. "It is none other than the great meritorious official who repeatedly saved His Majesty's life — the Prefect of the Palace Chariots, Zhao Gao!"

PS: Chapter 2 before midnight.

(End of chapter)