Chapter 92: Gifting a Horse

"Chief, three thousand coins — not a copper more!"

"No, this horse is plainly worth six or seven thousand. How could I shortchange you?"

Inside Huyang Station, Heifu and Ju were haggling in a most peculiar fashion — the seller, Ju, kept driving the price down, while the buyer, Heifu, kept pushing it up…

It turned out that Ju had come calling earlier, saying he had no other way to repay Heifu for saving his daughter's life. He had a fairly good horse at home, but he himself was too old to ride, and he hoped Heifu would accept it.

Without a second thought, Heifu flatly refused Ju's kindness.

He said sternly, "Never mind that helping you find your daughter was my duty. Qin law forbids officials from privately accepting bribes. Anyone who takes so much as a single coin shall be tattooed on the face and made a wall-builder! This horse is worth at least several thousand coins. Giving it to me would not benefit me — it would ruin me."

In Qin, giving or receiving a bribe worth a single bronze coin was punished by facial tattooing and hard labor — arguably the harshest anti-corruption period in history, matched only perhaps by the reign of the Hongwu Emperor. Though everyone present was trustworthy, Heifu had no wish to test the law with his own body. Ruining his future for a little gain was not worth it.

This threw Ju into a panic. He hastily protested that this was absolutely not a bribe, but a repayment of gratitude.

"The law makes no distinction between repaying gratitude and offering a bribe."

As Heifu spoke, he sized up the horse. It was a reddish-bay, its coat glossy and smooth, without a single blemish. Its hooves were evenly shaped, its shoulder height about one meter three, its eyes bright and spirited. A bit was in its mouth, the reins hanging down, but on its back there was only a felt pad to sit on — no saddle, and no stirrups…

Ju said he worked at the township's cattle and horse pastures and tended these animals daily; sure enough, the horse he raised himself was robust. Heifu knew nothing of horse judging, but Li Xian, standing nearby, knew a little. After circling the horse once, he told Heifu it was indeed a fine animal.

A thought flashed through Heifu's mind. The time until Qin and Chu went to war was growing shorter. He needed to practice swordsmanship and archery, and perhaps he ought to learn riding and chariot driving too. These were essential skills for any Qin military officer. Besides, with a horse to travel on, the time to reach the county seat or go home could be cut in half, and he would no longer have to wait by the roadside for a ride every time he had leave.

Just as Ju was despairing over his failed gift, Heifu suddenly said — why not let him buy the horse with his own money?

And so the scene of the two of them haggling came about.

"Six thousand six hundred coins, not one less. Any less, and I would be using your gratitude to take advantage of you."

After some back-and-forth, Heifu set the price firmly. He had received over five thousand coins in reward last time, and with some savings, it was just enough.

So he called Ju, took the money and the horse, and went with him to the township market. He made a point of asking the market officials to witness as the two of them drew up a contract, each keeping half. Only then was the transaction legally complete.

The township clerk marveled at this. Although Qin regulations forbade officials from receiving favors, Heifu and Ju currently had no official business relationship. Calling it a private gift would not necessarily have brought legal sanction. But Heifu said, in all seriousness, "Accept the horse and lose your salary — then you have no horse to ride. Refuse it and keep your salary — you will have horses all your life. I am no man of pure integrity; I merely fear the law and guard my post, and so dare not take it…"

With that, Heifu bowed with clasped hands, led the horse away, and departed under the pointing fingers and murmurs of the market crowd.

Clutching the heavy bronze coins, Ju watched Heifu's receding figure, his heart a tangle of emotions. He could only bow low in thanks.

Meanwhile, having left the market, Heifu stood staring at the horse that now belonged to him, the two of them eye to eye.

The horse was a little shy of strangers. After Ju left, it snorted uneasily and regarded the big, dark-complexioned man before it with a wary eye. It was only then that a problem suddenly struck Heifu.

"I don't know how to ride!"

He was not one of those heaven-blessed talents who, the moment they transmigrate, can mount a fine steed, draw a mighty bow, and shoot a bear dead — some bastard son of a noble house. Nor did he dare go riding off alone on twisting, bumpy paths. Falling off and snapping his neck would be a fine joke.

So Heifu could only lead the horse by the reins and walk slowly all the way back to Huyang Station…

…

From that day on, Ju told everyone he met in the township that Heifu was a man of integrity and righteousness. And Heifu's words — "Accept the horse and lose your salary, then you have no horse to ride; refuse it and keep your salary, you will have horses all your life" — spread by way of the township clerk, eventually reaching the county seat. They did much to wash away the "harsh official" image Heifu had been left with after the previous case.

Possessing the three virtues of righteousness, valor, and integrity, and repeatedly solving cases to keep the locality peaceful — in the eyes of Anlu County, Heifu was nearly the perfect Qin official.

How could such a man be kept in a lowly post as a mere Station Chief? Some were already crying out on Heifu's behalf.

Heifu himself remained unaware of the shift in his reputation. Throughout the fifth month, he was busy learning how to ride.

The horse was extremely important in ancient China. Because of its great utility in warfare, transport, and other areas, it was early on ranked first among the "Six Domestic Animals." At first, horses were only used to pull chariots. By the late Spring and Autumn period, riding single horses gradually began. When King Wuling of Zhao adopted barbarian dress and mounted archery, the practice of riding swept across the entire north…

Nan Commandery was a land of rivers and marshes, where boats were used more than horses, but the government still raised plenty of horses in its pastures. Anlu County alone had two large horse farms. Private horses were also numerous. Generally speaking, anyone holding the rank of "Zan Niao" or above was expected to own a horse, for the term "Zan Niao" originally referred to a horse's harness strap. Thus, this rank was also called "Running Horse," meaning one could provide one's own horse and go to the battlefield.

Although Heifu was only a lowly Shangzao, he could still afford to keep this horse. The reward money he had accumulated totaled over twenty thousand coins. After buying a plow ox and a horse for his family, he still had several thousand left, enough to cover the beans and fodder the horse ate every day — and Heifu dared not misappropriate the beans and fodder from the station quarters. In Qin, not only was bribe-taking forbidden, but using public grain for private purposes was also prohibited. Such an act was like using a government fuel card to fill a private car in later ages. Once discovered, it would be punished as theft.

Ever since the case in Blind Mountain, perhaps out of fear of the reputation of their "Huyang Station Five," every hamlet within the station's jurisdiction had behaved itself. Even the idle loafers had vanished. And so, throughout the entire sixth month, official business suddenly grew quiet.

Heifu now had plenty of time. After feeding his horse, he would ride it out for a spin.

In this era, there were no saddles, only felt pads, and certainly no stirrups, so riding was not easy. Fortunately, Li Xian at the station was the only one who knew how to ride, and he did not stint in passing on some tips to Heifu.

"When you're handling the horse, it may not obey. At such times, do not be afraid. The more afraid you are, the worse you'll ride. This beast is clever. It can sense whether a man can ride and whether he fears it. If it knows a man can't ride and is afraid of it, it won't take him seriously and simply won't obey commands."

"And don't be afraid of falling off. If you do happen to fall, and there's no serious injury, you must get right back into the saddle at once."

Heifu also learned from him that the gentle, kind, almost humanly understanding horses in those films — the ones that will always be gentle as long as you are gentle with them — that only applies to experienced riders, not to beginners.

The reality is that horses are proud animals. When a novice mounts, the horse's usual response is to disregard you entirely. You want to run; it insists on not running. You want to go left; it insists on veering right. You want to go forward; it wants to lower its head and graze.

What Heifu had to do at such times was be stern and decisive with the horse, make it submit to him. Riding is, in essence, a process of taming — making the horse understand who is master, so that it will carry out your will without hesitation. So at the start, you must be strict with the horse. If you want to go forward, you must drive it forward. If you want to stop, it must stop. If it disobeys, use the reins to control it, and slowly cultivate its obedience to people.

Once the horse understood who the true master was and began to obey, Heifu, after spending over a month with it, feeding and training it every day, gradually developed a rapport. At first, he only dared walk slowly. Gradually, he could manage a trot, and could even clamp his legs tightly to the horse's belly and let it stretch its legs and gallop…

One day in the early seventh month, as the autumn harvest approached, Heifu was riding toward the township market. The year's prospects in Anlu County were good. After summer began, the rains had been ample, and the millet and rice in the fields were slowly changing color, from lush green to golden yellow. Now, as the autumn wind blew, the yellow crops rippled and swayed, and a clean fragrance of grain filled the nostrils. Gazing out from horseback, he could see the fields on either side full of figures, busy with the final labors before the harvest.

As he neared the township market, Heifu turned off, intending to follow a small path through a hamlet to the pastures several li away. There was a hundred-mu meadow there, a fine place to practice riding skills.

All the laborers had gone to work in the fields, so the hamlet was nearly deserted. Although this area fell under the township station's jurisdiction, not Heifu's own security district, he still found himself instinctively scanning his surroundings from horseback, checking for any idle good-for-nothings loitering about. It was an occupational hazard of a Station Chief.

Just as he was about to ride out of the hamlet, a terrified shriek suddenly rang out nearby.

"Murder!"

Startled by the shout, the horse reared up sharply, letting out a neigh, and nearly threw Heifu off!

PS: Happy New Year to everyone — great fortune in the Year of the Dog.

(End of chapter)