Chapter 76: Honor and Disgrace Rest with Oneself

(I'll be on a long-distance bus home for the New Year this afternoon. Chapter 2 won't be ready until midnight. You're probably all heading home too — safe travels.)

……

The State of Qin has long had a tradition of transferring officials to different posts. The three senior officers of a county — the Magistrate, the Assistant Magistrate, and the Right Commandant — none of them may be natives of that county.

The Right Commandant of Anlu County, Du Xian, is a Qin man from Guanzhong. Though he came to Anlu to take up his post, his family remained in his native place. So Du Xian did not purchase a residence for himself, but simply lived in the compound behind the county office temple, in the quarters provided for officials.

The compound was not large, just two courtyards deep, and the furnishings were not lavish. Only a few slaves and concubines attended to his daily needs. There had originally been an elegant bamboo grove planted by a Chu scholar-official, but Du Xian had it chopped down, clearing a corner of the yard to use as an open space for martial practice — a thoroughly typical mindset for a Qin military officer.

That evening, Du Xian had just seen off Hei Fu, the Bailiff of Huyang Village, who had come to visit, when a servant returning from buying grain at the market mentioned that word was spreading outside about Hei Fu's "generous and righteous" deed.

"Is that so? He never mentioned it just now…"

Du Xian knelt behind his low table, dressed in informal robes, and said in surprise. Hei Fu had come to pay his respects and thank Du Xian for the "grace of recognizing his talent." Village Bailiffs were direct subordinates of the County Commandant, and Hei Fu, in particular, had been personally recruited by Du Xian, which meant he had joined the Right Commandant's faction.

Du Xian was also very pleased that Hei Fu had achieved merit right after taking office and had even been promoted in rank to Upper Maker. So he had asked Hei Fu to stay for a meal, but at the table, in front of him and Centurion Chen, Hei Fu had not mentioned a single word about giving away his money.

Centurion Chen, who was seated with them, remarked with a touch of sourness, "This Hei Fu really doesn't treat money like money. Over four thousand cash is no small sum — he could have done anything with it, yet he used it to pay off someone else's armor fine. That man was just a criminal who submitted an anonymous letter, no relation to him at all. Why go so far…"

Centurion Chen felt a trace of jealousy toward Hei Fu's rapid promotion in rank and the Right Commandant's frequent praise. This kid's luck was simply too good, so his words carried a somewhat barbed tone.

Du Xian, however, said to Centurion Chen, "You think those four thousand cash were not worth spending?"

Centurion Chen caught the displeasure in the Right Commandant's tone and grew flustered, but then he heard Du Xian lecture him, "You — your vision is still far too shortsighted. Let me ask you: for people like us who serve as officials, what is it we most desire?"

"Could it be military rank, authority, and position? And an endless flow of money and grain?"

Centurion Chen answered cautiously. In Qin, rank and wealth were linked: the higher one's rank, the larger one's fields and residence, the more servants one had, and the more abundant the yields.

Du Xian nodded. "Correct. I have heard that when the Commandant of Justice first entered Qin, he once said: 'There is no disgrace greater than baseness, and no misery deeper than poverty. How can a true man, born into this world, long remain in a base position, in a place of hardship?' But are these two things all that an official pursues?"

Centurion Chen cupped his hands. "This humble officer is dull-witted and can think of nothing else. I beg the Right Commandant to enlighten me."

Du Xian pointed at Centurion Chen. "There is also reputation!"

What is called 'achievement and name' is precisely merit and reputation. In the eyes of the world, if one's career is successful yet one remains nameless and unknown, it is not enough to mark success, wealth, and honor.

It is precisely for this reason that, twenty years from now, the man who will roar, "To be rich and noble and not return home is like wearing embroidered robes in the dark of night," will long not only for the scenery of his homeland and the songs of Western Chu, but also for the praise of his fellow villagers.

So in Du Xian's view, for Hei Fu to gain a reputation in the county with a mere four thousand cash, and to be praised by the county folk, was truly a bargain of a deal. Reputation is something that can be sought but not forced — it is no illusory thing. It can even be converted into tangible benefit.

Although Qin promotes officials based on administrative achievements, reputation is also part of one's ability. That text, "The Way of the Official," summarizes the "Five Virtues" of an official, one of which is "delighting in good deeds." If a Qin official can frequently perform good acts and enjoy an excellent local reputation, he easily catches the attention of his superiors and may even be recommended for promotion.

"This Hei Fu — his future prospects are extraordinary."

Du Xian stroked his beard, beginning to congratulate himself on having recruited this man. For Du Xian, the more capable Hei Fu proved, and the more he was praised, the more it demonstrated the Right Commandant's own skill in recognizing talent and employing men well…

……

While Du Xian was praising Hei Fu's "good deed and righteous act," the Left Commandant, Yun Man, whose home was in the right section of the southern ward of the county seat, was cursing Hei Fu's conduct furiously.

Yun Man was a descendant of the ancient state of Yun. Under Chu, his family had served as grand masters under the Ruo'ao clan of the Yun rulers, managing the chariot parks. By the time of Qin rule, the Yun clan, because of their active cooperation, had become the preeminent great clan in the region.

Even with the Household Separation Ordinance restricting them, their family remained extremely wealthy and powerful: a tall gate and sprawling compound, pink walls and vermilion tiles, with pavilions, terraces, and towers within the residence, along with the garden ponds and bamboo groves the Chu people loved. They also kept several dozen male slaves in green caps and fine clothes, and maidservants in beautiful dresses and thin skirts.

In the hall, lavishly adorned and filled with lacquerware, oil lamps blazed brightly. Yun Man was discussing the day's events at the market with several of his sons and nephews.

"That Hei Fu — no sooner does he take office than he stirs up trouble, using it to gain merit, and now he's even been promoted to Upper Maker. His luck is simply too good!" one of Yun Man's nephews said indignantly.

Yun Man, equally displeased, replied, "This man appears simple and honest, but in truth he is cunning. That so-called righteous act is nothing but hypocrisy. Have you all heard the story of Lord Mengchang of Qi burning the debt tallies to buy righteousness? In this old man's view, this Hei Fu is absolutely a fame-fisher!"

Although the Yun clan gnashed their teeth in hatred toward Hei Fu because of the two previous incidents, now that Hei Fu had latched onto the great ship of the County Right Commandant and gained a reputation in the county, it had become even harder for Yun Man to deal with him.

"Father, let that brat be smug for a while longer."

Yun Man's son suggested, "Wait a year or half a year. Once Du Xian is transferred away, this Anlu County Commandant's office will still be under Father's authority! When the time comes, it won't be too late to deal with Hei Fu!"

……

The household of the Prison Clerk, Xi, also lived in the right section of the southern ward of the county seat, but their residence was so plain it hardly seemed like the home of an official's family. It was a small compound of three courtyards, with trees and vegetable plots in the yard. The buildings were slightly old but very clean, and the interior was kept extremely tidy. There were no surplus bondservants — only one old servant working in the kitchen.

Xi had two sons. The eldest, Huo, was born in the eleventh month of the eleventh year of the Qin King's reign and was already ten years old. The younger, Hui, was born in the eighteenth year of the Qin King's reign and was now only two and a half, still a babbling toddler.

Every day, after finishing his work and returning home, Xi would sit with his wife and two children at the low table to eat the day's meal. The food was plain, and there was not much conversation, but with a virtuous wife and filial sons, the household was warm and harmonious.

Xi was not a particularly interesting man and had no further entertainments. For over a decade, after every meal, he would sit at his low table with unshakable regularity and copy down the case reports and legal documents from his daily work.

This habit originated from when he had just become a clerk and witnessed a wrongful conviction — a case of false confession under torture — caused by a prison officer's poor command of the statutes.

That time, an innocent common soldier was identified as a cattle thief and sentenced to tattooing and hard labor on the city walls. Only when the case was appealed up to the commandery was the injustice finally redressed. Although the Qin authorities took the initiative to buy back the man's wife and daughter, who had been condemned to bondservant status, the women had already endured untold suffering. Qin society showed no tolerance whatsoever toward a tattooed man, and the family could only spend the rest of their days in the Hidden Officials' settlement.

So Xi, having witnessed all this, constantly admonished himself to remember every single statute and to treat every judgment with caution. He would never allow an injustice to occur at his own hands.

When he copied the statutes, his younger brother Gan, who served as a tutor at the academy, would often laugh and say, "Elder Brother, what use is copying these? Your daily toil over official documents is hard enough — do you intend to copy them all and take them into your grave?"

To this, Xi would only smile and say nothing. Habit had become second nature. He always felt it was his duty to record the various cases that occurred daily in the Southern Commandery. The myriad facets of this small corner of the world — its good and evil — were all condensed within the case files. It was, in a sense, the Legalist officer's version of "daily examining oneself on three points."

That evening, when he was halfway through his copying, his younger brother Gan came to visit again and told Xi about the "righteous act" that the Huyang Village Bailiff, Hei Fu, had performed at the market that day.

"What does Elder Brother think?" Gan sat across from Xi and asked with a smile.

Xi pondered for a long time. Unlike the County Right Commandant and Left Commandant, whose focus was on Hei Fu gaining fame or fishing for fame, what concerned Xi was whether Hei Fu's actions had violated any statutes.

"Hei Fu lent money to Quji so that he could pay off his fine. Qin law only forbids using houses or other property as collateral for loans. A simple loan of money, as long as the contract conforms to regulations, is not illegal. As for Hei Fu destroying the contract on the spot and not wanting those four thousand cash back — that was his own decision to make, and no one can hold him at fault for it. However…"

Xi picked up a bamboo slip from the table. On it was recorded his judgment that very day regarding the Public Serviceman Quji. The concise and summary verdict could determine the latter half of a person's life, could decide the survival of a family. This bamboo slip was very light, yet also very heavy.

Xi understood its weight well. He was not a cold-hearted, unfeeling man; he simply believed that the greatest justice in this world was to handle everything according to the law. In this process, all his own emotions — likes and dislikes — had to be cast aside entirely.

"Lord Shang said: 'Words that do not accord with the law, do not heed them; actions that do not accord with the law, do not exalt them; affairs that do not accord with the law, do not undertake them.'"

What this means is: anything that does not conform to the law — do not listen to it, do not promote it, do not advocate it, and do not do it.

In Xi's view, what Hei Fu had done did not violate any statute. But by privately bestowing favor upon a criminal, even though he had won the praise of the entire county, Hei Fu had already overstepped the spirit of Qin law. It was a dangerous act.

Who did he think he was? A mere petty Village Bailiff, barely a few days into his post, having handled only a single case, and he already believed his own actions were more just than the statutes, that he could dispense reward and punishment in their place?

The people of Anlu County were also muddle-headed. How could they blindly advocate and praise such behavior?

Fortune and misfortune arise from the Dao and the law, not from personal love or hate.

"Will Elder Brother pursue this and reprimand that Village Bailiff?" Not every Qin official revered the statutes as divine. Xi's younger brother Gan could not understand his elder brother's extreme views, and like the common people of Anlu County, he rather admired Hei Fu's righteous act.

Xi, however, shook his head. "As an officer of the law, one must not be lenient with matters within the law's prohibitions, but one need not be harsh with matters outside the law's prohibitions."

The plumb line is set right there. The enforcer of the law need only see whether people have crossed it. He must never, because of his own likes or dislikes, infinitely extend that plumb line, ensnaring those who clearly stand outside it.

Though he felt some displeasure in his heart, Xi would not pursue Hei Fu for this. If he did, would he not also become the kind of person who acts on his own personal likes and dislikes?

"As long as his actions remain within the bounds of the law, then let him be!"

After seeing off his younger brother, Xi looked at the half-copied legal documents on the table and suddenly recalled what Heifu had said when consulting him today, and remembered that wrongful case he had experienced when he first became a clerk.

"Judge rewards and punishments carefully, do not punish the innocent — have I truly lived up to that?"

But after a moment's wavering, he regained his former resolve.

"My conscience is clear — at the very least, clear before the law!"

……

At this time, Heifu still did not know the various praises and criticisms the commoners and officials of Anlu County had of him.

Nor did he much care, because Heifu had always felt that the burden of honor and disgrace lies with oneself, not with others! In this matter, he could also beat his chest and declare that his conscience was clear.

After shaking off the Gongshi Quji, Heifu first strolled around the cattle and horse pens at the evening market and looked at the plow oxen — this was the first thing Heifu wanted to buy after receiving the huge sum of over ten thousand coins.

"Spring plowing is almost here. Though the village clerk won't make trouble for my family this year, if we had a plow ox at home, my eldest brother and Jing would toil less when plowing and tilling the fields."

Heifu considered that he would have few chances to return home this year, so there would be no one to help Zhong with the farm work, and having one more ox at home was equivalent to adding three more laborers.

You never know until you look — and looking gave him a shock. After he made a round of the cattle and horse pens and asked about the prices, he realized he had been far too naive.

As it turned out, even the cheapest plow ox cost seven or eight thousand coins, and a good one could even go up to ten thousand. Only then did Heifu feel that the 4,000-coin debt he had burned in the blink of an eye earlier was indeed a bit too extravagant. But he did not regret it — a true man does some things and refrains from others, and Heifu believed that was what he ought to have done.

Plow oxen were so precious that they were the most valuable property of many middling households, equivalent to buying a car in later ages — one could not just casually pick one out...

Selecting oxen and horses is a field of expertise. Among the common folk there are even specialized horse-appraisers and ox-appraisers, and they have compiled some mnemonics. For judging oxen, for instance: "Round, large eyes with the whites connected to the pupils; long neck, large feet, broad thighs, and short hair are best." But Heifu had only heard others say this — when he looked himself, he was still completely baffled.

So Heifu temporarily gave up on buying an ox and decided to wait until he returned home on leave to discuss the matter with Zhong. His eldest brother was an expert at farming and knew his stuff.

Afterward, Heifu bought some gifts and paid a visit to the County Right Commandant Du Xian. With a superior — especially one who had given him guidance and support — one must constantly maintain good relations. Heifu still had to rely on the Right Commandant to keep the Left Commandant from daring to move against him. He was well aware that although he had become a亭长, in Anlu County he was still a nobody.

By the time he came out of the Right Commandant's residence, the sky had already darkened. Heifu hurried through the streets and alleys, and before the curfew began, he arrived at a courtyard next to the county woodworking workshop.

His brother-in-law Yuan, because he had presented the treadle-operated tilt hammer, had been kept in the county seat by the County Artisan Master to teach the craftsmen how to make it. They had also arranged lodgings for Yuan — the treatment was fairly good.

These past days, whenever Heifu came to the county seat to participate in trials or testify, and night fell so he could not return to Huyang亭, he would come here to lay a bedroll on the floor and make do for the night.

Unexpectedly, today, just as he reached the gate of that small courtyard, he saw Yuan rubbing his hands together, pacing by the door with a look of agitation.

"Brother-in-law, what's happened? Don't tell me you forgot your keys again?" Heifu walked over and asked.

Speaking of which, his simple and honest brother-in-law was rather comical — he kept forgetting the keys to his own place. One day, in a muddled state, he had knocked on the door and called out Heifu's elder sister's name, saying, "Wife, hurry and open the door..."

He was probably homesick from being away so long.

But today, Yuan was pacing outside the door for a different reason.

Seeing Heifu return, Yuan was overjoyed. He rushed over in a few steps, and his large hands clapped Heifu heavily on the shoulders, nearly dislocating them...

"Heifu, it's good news!"

Yuan grinned and said, "The reward for our presentation of the treadle-operated tilt hammer — the commandery has finally sent it down!"

(End of chapter)