HCT – Chapter 110 Lin Zhi Eats Dirt Like a Dog

After Zhu Xiang spoke those words, Lord Chunshen’s smile faded.

He stared directly into Zhu Xiang’s eyes, as though trying to see through the heart of this world-renowned sage.

Anyone who had heard of Zhu Xiang’s reputation would be curious—was Zhu Xiang truly the noble, incorruptible gentleman that the rumors claimed, or was he merely overpraised by the world?

The scholars of the Six States all hoped Zhu Xiang’s fame was inflated—because otherwise, how could they explain Zhu Xiang’s unwavering support for the most tyrannical King of Qin? Wasn’t that the same as aiding a tyrant in his cruelty?

When Lin Zhi mentioned that Zhu Xiang had fallen out of favor with the King of Qin, Huang Xie had truly been fooled at the time. But once he returned to his residence and thought it over, he saw flaws everywhere.

In the few years following Zhu Xiang’s arrival in Qin, King Zhaoxiang’s behavior had become completely different from before.

Before that, though King Zhaoxiang of Qin was a headache for the other six kingdoms, he was still a ruler whose actions could be predicted.

Huang Xie had once lived in Qin for ten full years, accompanying the Crown Prince of Chu who was held hostage there, and considered himself very familiar with Qin and its king.

Indeed, both Qin and its king were powerful—but not so much that they were far beyond the other states. When the other six states were at full strength, their own ambitious rulers could match the King of Qin.

But after Zhu Xiang entered Qin, the once aggressive state suddenly became quiet—and this terrified Huang Xie.

Silence didn’t mean that Qin had lost its danger; on the contrary, it had become even more dangerous. Everyone knew that a beast at rest was merely gathering its strength.

Such an abnormal change in Qin must have a cause.

And what else could it be but the arrival of Zhu Xiang? It had to be that Zhu Xiang had influenced the king’s decisions.

Judging from the results, Zhu Xiang was clearly not out of favor in Qin. Even if he didn’t appear in court, he still participated in national governance.

When news of increased agricultural output in Qin spread, Huang Xie began persuading the King of Chu to take advantage of this deceptive calm and join forces with other states to attack Qin.

He had heard that Zhu Xiang had once doubled crop yields for commoners in Zhao. Just how foolish had the King of Zhao been, to overlook such a man?

If agricultural output among the common people doubled, how much more tax revenue could the state collect? How many more mouths could be fed? How many more soldiers could be trained, and how much grain could be stockpiled?

Though the King of Qin had conquered large swaths of territory from the six states, no one believed he could truly unify the world. It was like when Chu had destroyed over a hundred minor states—neither the Central Plains nor Qin had taken Chu seriously for it.

The lands swallowed by Qin would be spit out the moment chaos arose. That had always been the pattern across centuries.

But when Cai Ze defended the highlands of Shangdang, repelling attacks from Wei and Han in what were seemingly minor and obscure battles, Huang Xie noticed something unusual.

Word had it that when Cai Ze defended the city, the people of Shangdang—who had only recently become subjects of Qin—voluntarily assisted Qin soldiers. Even though such help would not earn them military merit and posed danger with no benefit to the common people.

Back when Qin attacked Shangdang, the locals had fled en masse to Zhao. That was only a few years ago—how had things changed so drastically?

Even when a state’s heartland was under siege, commoners would merely pay taxes to whoever won. Huang Xie had never seen any state’s peasants willingly die for their country.

The only ones who died for the state were soldiers and virtuous scholars. The common people were like livestock—livestock didn’t care who their master was.

This incomprehensible event planted a seed of fear in Huang Xie’s heart.

When Li Mu took over southern Chu, that seed sprouted.

Huang Xie was the most hardline of Chu’s nobles. After Qin seized southern Chu, even if the king and other nobles remained passive, Huang Xie still sent agents under his own authority.

Even if he couldn’t reclaim southern Chu in one stroke, he was determined to create trouble for Qin’s occupation.

Huang Xie had assumed it would be easy.

For years, Chu had held that region without ever winning over the remnants of the old local powers. It should have taken only a little provocation to stir the old royal clans and indigenous tribes of southern Chu into rebellion. Surely the Chu people remaining there longed to return to their homeland.

But things didn’t go as planned. All of Huang Xie’s provocations vanished without a ripple—the few disturbances he caused were even less than the sea’s natural waves.

His agents reported back: the reason for their failure was Lord Zhu Xiang.

Lord Zhu Xiang had first sent men to assess the locals’ farmland. Then, using the plots already in use as a baseline, he fairly distributed undeveloped land and estates confiscated from nobles to the locals.

With land in hand, neither the Chu, the remnants of old clans, nor the relocated Qin settlers wanted rebellion. They even reported Huang Xie’s agents to the Qin army and cost them heavily.

Huang Xie raged: “Qin people are cunning—how could they believe Qin would really give them land?!”

His subordinate replied: “Because it was Lord Zhu Xiang who gave them the land.”

Huang Xie was baffled.

No matter how famous Zhu Xiang was, surely his name wouldn’t have reached southern Chu? That region was at the very edge of the world—how could those people even know of Zhu Xiang, let alone trust him?

His subordinate couldn’t explain it either. He only knew that when the locals mentioned Lord Zhu Xiang, they did so with full praise, as if they knew him personally—some even claimed to have met and spoken with him.

Huang Xie was even more lost. He was one of the four most renowned noble sons of Chu, yet only among the scholar class. If one asked commoners outside his own fief who Lord Chunshen was, most would be completely puzzled.

Forget Lord Chunshen—some of those ignorant peasants probably didn’t even know who the King of Chu was. They only knew that this was Chu, and the king ruled over them.

He didn’t know that the commoners of southern Chu truly hadn’t known Zhu Xiang before. But once Zhu Xiang began cutting through mountains, clearing temples, and walking the fields to teach them farming firsthand, the name “Lord Zhu Xiang” spread far and wide.

Many southern Chu farmers had indeed seen him with their own eyes—and even spoken to him.

Now, Zhu Xiang’s words made that tree of fear, which had grown from incomprehension, tower even higher in Huang Xie’s heart. His anxiety blazed, choking his breath.

He stared at Zhu Xiang as if looking at a monster wearing human skin.

A sage, perhaps—but if someone strayed too far beyond the bounds of reason, were they not also a monster?

“Lord Zhu Xiang, your skill in farming is indeed useful,” Huang Xie said. Fear sharpened his voice into a piercing tone, his words almost accusatory. “But I always thought your talent was in making the treasury overflow.”

Zhu Xiang, seeing his expression, also set aside his smile.

Li Mu had once captured spies that Chunshen had sent to disrupt southern Qin. From their intercepted letters, it was clear they blamed all their failures on “Lord Zhu Xiang.”

When Lin Zhi visited Chu as an envoy, he deliberately gathered information about what Chu’s nobles thought of Zhu Xiang. Lord Chunshen Huang Xie paid particular attention to Zhu Xiang and even warned the King of Chu: “Zhu Xiang has the power to deceive the people. The people of Shangdang and southern Chu helping the Qin army is all because of him.”

On top of that, Chu placed great emphasis on spirits and the supernatural. Because Zhu Xiang had cut through mountains and destroyed temples, rumors began circulating among Chu scholars that he was not a man, but a spirit.

Most didn’t call him a god or ghost directly, but a monster.

When Zhu Xiang heard Lin Zhi mention this, he was stunned for quite a while.

Then he smiled and told Lin Zhi, “The Chu people aren’t wrong. I am a monster.”

Lin Zhi thought he was joking. Zhu Xiang wasn’t.

That which defies nature is called a demon. And what is a demon if not a monster? In this era, Zhu Xiang was precisely that.

Having heard Lin Zhi’s plan and seen through Huang Xie’s test, Zhu Xiang thought—perhaps he could make use of this reputation.

“Better farming means more grain. Grain doesn’t just fill the treasury—it fills people’s stomachs too,” Zhu Xiang said. “I know what you tried to do in southern Chu. You must be wondering why the Chu people didn’t help you. Why wonder? They believe I won’t let them starve—so they’re willing to be Qin people.”

A trace of embarrassment crossed Huang Xie’s face.

He hadn’t expected Zhu Xiang to expose his inner thoughts so directly. After years of battling fellow nobles, he had never faced anything like this.

Even the sharpest strategists sparred with subtlety and insinuation. But Zhu Xiang, like some crude commoner, simply asked and answered without concern for saving face.

Was it because Zhu Xiang was a crude commoner, a man of the people?

“Lord Chunshen, I know what you’re thinking. Nobles rarely speak plainly in confrontation. You’re thinking, I’m hardly a noble—just a commoner after all,” Zhu Xiang said with a smile. “But Lord Chunshen, isn’t that precisely my advantage? Who tills the land for the country? Who performs corvée labor? Who fights in the wars? It is the commoners, one by one.”

Huang Xie asked, “Lord Zhu Xiang, why are you telling me this?”

He couldn’t understand at all why Zhu Xiang was saying such things.

The fear in his heart only deepened because of the unknown.

“You can take it as boasting,” Zhu Xiang said as he poured more tea for both of them. “I am flaunting my talent, and also the favor I’ve received in Qin.”

Huang Xie was even more baffled. “Why would you boast to me? Are you vain, Lord Zhu Xiang?”

Zhu Xiang replied, “Though I am indeed a vain person, that’s not the reason for this boast.”

He smiled. “I know Lord Chunshen wants to use a ruse to force my death. But perhaps you might hesitate to kill a man of talent—so I’m here to rid you of that hesitation.”

Fear gripped Huang Xie more tightly. “Why would you do that?”

Zhu Xiang laughed. “To weaken something, first you must strengthen it. To abolish something, you must first elevate it. I want to see how much strength Chu can mobilize in Qin’s court—so I can root it out in one stroke.”

Huang Xie said, “You intend to use yourself as bait? But you’ve already told me this plan—how could I still act on it?”

Zhu Xiang pushed the teacup toward him, chuckling lightly. “That’s why I’m showing off how useful I am to Qin. Lord Chunshen, with me in Qin, the territory it conquers, it keeps. Moreover, while the Fourth Prince recruits scholars across the land, I can bring in the common folk.”

He took a sip of tea, cradling the cup in both hands. “They will become Qin’s farmers, Qin’s soldiers. Crown Prince Zichu is my close friend, and Prince Zheng is my nephew. I do not seek power nor court positions, I do not take in retainers or mingle with courtiers—so they will never see me as a threat.”

“Shang Yang could punish the Crown Prince’s tutor, Prince Qian. If you fabricate a solid enough charge, even Crown Prince Zichu and Prince Zheng won’t be able to protect me,” Zhu Xiang said with a smile. “Your window to kill me is closing fast. Once you return to Chengdu, speak to the King of Chu properly about this matter.”

Huang Xie drew a deep breath as cold sweat broke out down his back.

Zhu Xiang had first seemed like a celestial being, then a hearty man of letters, and now he revealed his dagger beneath the cloak. The speed of his character shifts chilled Huang Xie to the bone.

Huang Xie had risen from humble origins to become one of the Four Lords of the Warring States, had escorted the Crown Prince of Chu back from a ten-year imprisonment in Qin, stayed behind to die in the prince’s stead and survived, even persuading Fan Ju to convince the King of Qin to let him go. Of course he was an extraordinarily capable man.

But Zhu Xiang… was just too bizarre. So strange that Huang Xie had no idea how to deal with him.

Even though Zhu Xiang had laid out his motives, Huang Xie couldn’t understand why he would go to such lengths. What was it that made Zhu Xiang stake his life just to provoke him into action?

Just to expose Chu’s hidden hands in Qin’s court?

That wasn’t something so critical, was it? Even if the agents of Chu still remained in Qin, they couldn’t sway the King of Qin’s will—otherwise, the vast lands of Chu, including the old capital and its auxiliary, wouldn’t have been lost.

And didn’t Zhu Xiang fear miscalculating?

No matter how great his fame, a ruler wouldn’t necessarily consider that when taking a life. Otherwise, Qin wouldn’t have buried three nobles alive, and Zhao wouldn’t have sent three nobles into Qin to die.

As Zhu Xiang himself said, his only protection now was the Crown Prince of Qin. And a Crown Prince was of little use. He could be taken as a hostage, abolished on a whim.

King Zhaoxiang’s previous Crown Prince had died in Wei as a hostage. Zichu himself had been detained in Qin for ten years and nearly lost the chance to inherit the throne.

Now, the current King of Qin had over twenty sons—each one eager to see Crown Prince Zichu dead.

“Looks like Lord Chunshen can’t finish this tea,” Zhu Xiang said, raising his cup and gesturing for him to drink.

At the time, the expression “offering tea as a dismissal” didn’t yet exist, but Huang Xie understood Zhu Xiang’s intent.

Zhu Xiang waved his hand, and a servant stepped forward, presenting a lacquer box containing tea leaves and the newly designed ceramic teapot and cups as a gift for Huang Xie.

Zhu Xiang personally escorted Huang Xie to the pond, smiling as if they had just become friends.

After Huang Xie left, the attendants behind Zhu Xiang began removing their disguises—one tore off a fake beard, another fake eyebrows, and another, a false hairpiece.

Lin Zhi asked, confused, “Why did you scare him like that?”

Zichu rubbed his forehead. “That glue made my face hurt.”

Cai Ze let out a long sigh, wearing an expression like, “Who am I? Where am I? Why am I neglecting my actual work to take part in this nonsense?”

“Lin Zhi, the trade agreement you signed—are you planning to use the grain trade war I once told you about?” Zhu Xiang stood with hands behind his back, gazing into the lake.

Lin Zhi feigned ignorance. “Huh? What are you talking about?”

Zhu Xiang stared at the lake, his tone calm. “Xia Tong, go stir up your brothers a bit. Whether or not Chu takes action, make them feel like someone among them is already targeting me. Chu nobles act on their own, even with intrigue—they care only about results, not the source.”

“Alright,” said Zichu, rubbing his brow. “But what does this have to do with the so-called trade war you mentioned?”

Zhu Xiang replied, “Do you remember Guan Zhong’s plan against Hengshan?”

Zichu furrowed his brows in thought.

Cai Ze answered, “Hengshan was famed for forging swords. Guan Zhong had men buy their swords at high prices. Other states followed suit, and the price of Hengshan swords soared. The people of Hengshan abandoned farming for forging. Then Guan Zhong bought up grain from other states at high prices and brought it all into Qi. Before the summer harvest, Hengshan’s reserves ran low and new crops hadn’t ripened. Then Qi invaded—Hengshan, though rich, had no food or weapons left. The entire state surrendered.”

Zichu recalled it. “Hengshan had wealth, but the other states had already sold all their grain to Qi. So they had no choice but to surrender.”

Zhu Xiang said, “That’s a trade war. Qin’s grain production is increasing, but population won’t grow fast enough to consume it all—so there will be surplus. Chu is fragmented, and the King of Chu cannot control his people directly. Qin can sell its old grain cheaply to Chu, while promoting cotton farming there, and buy up their cloth and raw silk at high prices. Within a few years, all Chu’s land will be growing cotton and mulberry.”

Lin Zhi saw he could no longer pretend and pressed his fingers to his forehead. “Then Qin stops selling grain to Chu, and food prices there will skyrocket—maybe tenfold. Li Mu could easily lead his army across the river. Zhu Xiang, you’re trying to scare Chu into focusing on you, so they won’t notice Qin’s trade offensive.”

Zhu Xiang said quietly, “Mm.”

Lin Zhi pretended to be furious. “You… You said this plan was too cruel! I already took it upon myself, and you still don’t trust me?”

Zhu Xiang sighed, turning to face his friend. “This was my plan to begin with. Since you used it, I must take responsibility. The faster we succeed, the sooner it ends—and the less the people of Chu will suffer. No one understands food security better than I do. I’m the most suitable one to lead this plan.”

Lin Zhi dropped to a crouch, hugging his head, muttering curses in frustration.

Cai Ze sighed, crouched beside him, and patted his shoulder. “You underestimated Zhu Xiang’s sharpness.”

Zichu was still lost, unsure what had happened, and wanted to ask—but feared looking foolish.

Stop sighing and groaning, someone explain things to me!

Seeing Zichu barely holding back his anxious expression, Zhu Xiang cleared his throat and explained on his own initiative, “Although this plan could quickly bring down the hardest opponent—Chu—the resulting famine would harm civilians greatly. Lin Zhi wanted to shoulder it himself and hide it from me.”

Zichu asked, confused, “But if you dislike the plan, why mention it in the first place?”

Zhu Xiang said seriously, “First… I was drunk. You know how I get when I drink—I can’t keep my mouth shut.”

Zichu: “…” Yep. He knew. That’s how he knew Zhu Xiang was a great man.

“Second…” Zhu Xiang paused. “If unification happens quickly, fewer people will die.”

Zichu’s heart sank. Then he kicked Lin Zhi in the butt, knocking him face-first to the ground.

You idiot! If you wanted to hide it from Zhu Xiang, why didn’t you talk to us first? See, you failed! And because Zhu Xiang is so responsible, he jumped in!

Fool!

Still hugging his head, Lin Zhi whimpered: “I don’t want to live anymore!”

Zhu Xiang said, “Hey, hey, don’t be so dramatic! Is it really that bad? As the Lord of Changping under Qin, is it strange for me to use a scheme against Chu?”

Lin Zhi: “Boohoo, I don’t want to live anymore!”

Zichu: “Then don’t live!”

Cai Ze: “Reflect on your actions properly.”

Zhu Xiang was speechless. “What are you guys doing? It’s just a trade war. Do you really think I’m so fragile that I’d cry under my blanket for days just because I proposed a strategy?”

Lin Zhi: “Don’t cry. I was wrong. Next time, I’ll hide it better!”

Zichu: “Do you not know how fragile you are yourself?”

Cai Ze: “Zhu Xiang, don’t worry.”

Zhu Xiang crouched down next to Lin Zhi, hugging his own head. “You’re overprotecting me—this is so embarrassing! I’m really not that fragile! I don’t even know the Chu people that well! My conscience isn’t that soft!”

Lin Zhi: “Don’t believe you.”

Zichu: “Heh.”

Cai Ze: “Relax. It’s fine. I’ll request the court issue a decree to invite Chu people to farm in Qin. When they see food running out, they’ll come.”

Zhu Xiang: “…Thanks.”

Fine. He admitted it. Maybe he was that fragile.