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"The worthy and the unworthy, the wise and the foolish, the brave and the cowardly, the humane and the righteous—there are distinctions among them. Thus one may open, one may close, one may advance, one may retreat, one may debase, one may exalt—through non-action, one shepherds them all."
These principles, Zhen He understood them all. Yet now, he found himself somewhat unable to see through things clearly. How was he to categorize the young man before him? For a moment, Zhen He felt it was exceedingly complicated. This person in front of him was barely in his twenties. If he himself had been placed in such a position to take over such a mess at the age of twenty—well, he probably, perhaps, might have been able to manage it about as well. But in the handling of political affairs, this young man perhaps possessed many stratagems.
Wisdom, at times, is indeed not something that can necessarily be accumulated simply by the passage of years. Yet principles of conduct often require the sedimentation of age. Zhen He was now a man past forty. The heart that sought to strive and surpass had long since faded. His perspective on many matters had, like his age, reached the stage of being beyond perplexity. He no longer lamented, as he had in his youth, the injustice of heaven and earth, or bemoaned being born in the wrong era. On many things, his angle of view grew broader and broader, his sight reaching further and further. Yet when he set about doing things, he would forever only start from what was beside him, from the finest details.
Thus, although he had already observed on his own and subtly inquired of various others, he still wished to know how Fei Qian himself handled and regarded the situation. And so, carrying the wooden token, he had come to see Fei Qian.
Zhen He—or rather, Jia Xu—looked at Fei Qian and said, "Once Pan Geng had carried out the relocation, he settled their dwellings and strove to fulfill the great mandate. Yet the masses are greedy and covet profit, and the capital region has been shaken. This stratagem was originally proposed by you, General of the Household. Might you have any good remedy?" Jia Xu did not so much as allude to the matter of the debased currency; he spoke only of this wooden token. For he was well aware that the matter of the evil coinage was not something Fei Qian, with his tiny patch of territory, could have engineered. Still, the fact that Fei Qian had resorted entirely to barter everywhere—though it avoided the harm of the debased coinage—also carried its own severe limitations.
Fei Qian rubbed his fingers over the wooden token. This token was like a milestone. Perhaps, from the moment he had presented this very token, he himself had transformed from an enraged sheep into a rapacious wolf. Fei Qian smiled faintly, gently set the wooden token down, and said, "Since you have come, Ziyu, you must already have your own observations. Now, I too am helpless and without a stratagem.
There is nothing to be done but to refrain from monopolizing goods and treasures, and to let the people earn their own livelihoods. Spread virtue among the people, and ever maintain a single heart." Fei Qian still did not know that the man seated before him was Jia Xu. But, after all, his present status and position were entirely different from what they had been back in Luoyang. Moreover, Jia Xu had on the surface merely claimed to be a minor clerk of the Chancellor's office, his official rank somewhat lower than Fei Qian's. Thus, Fei Qian was not particularly inclined to elaborate and simply brushed him off with formulaic phrases.
In truth, even if Fei Qian had wanted to answer, it would have been difficult to phrase well. When Zhen He spoke of "Pan Geng's relocation," on the surface he seemed to be referring to Dong Zhuo moving the capital. Yet in reality, Fei Qian himself was not even within the administrative seat of Shang Commandery and was likewise in a state of "relocation." So how exactly was Fei Qian supposed to respond to that? Besides, if he truly produced some solutions, would that not be tantamount to admitting that, when he had first proposed this wooden token, he had already had a follow-up plan in mind? If he had a way, why had he not brought it up earlier? Was he deliberately standing by as a spectator, watching the excitement? Heh heh.
Fei Qian studied the middle-aged scholar with the three strands of long beard. The man was somewhat lean, with slender, elongated eyes that narrowed to a mere line when he squinted, making it impossible to see his pupils, let alone discern the expression in his gaze. His skin was rather dark, but it did not look like the result of daily exposure to the blazing sun; it was likely his natural complexion. His fingers were long and slender, the knuckles clearly defined, yet there were no calluses on his palms or between his fingers from practicing with weapons, so he was undoubtedly a man of the civil service. His conversation, from the earlier pleasantries onward, had been quite fitting—neither too much nor too little, but every sentence landing with weight, as though each word had circled for a long while in his chest before being uttered.
But why would such a steady, composed civil clerk, who by rights ought to be in Chang'an right now fighting fires and salvaging all manner of desperate, scorched messes, have the leisure to travel here, unhurried and at ease? Zhen He... Hm, he had never heard of anyone surnamed Zhen among Dong Zhuo's subordinates. There was, however, someone surnamed Jia... Could it be that Jia Xu? Fei Qian silently studied Zhen He. In his mind, it was as though an alarm had been triggered, instantly raising his vigilance to the highest level.
"May I ask where Ziyu's ancestral home is?" Fei Qian inquired, as though casually.
Jia Xu cupped his hands and replied with a perfectly straight face, "This humble official's ancestral home is in Ji Province."
Ji Province—you must be joking with me. Though there is indeed a great clan surnamed Zhen in Ji Province, your accent carries not the slightest flavor of it. Do you know what, Fei Qian chuckled softly. In his heart, he was now mostly certain, yet he did not expose the man.
Still, since he had recognized him—if Jia Xu went back and spoke a few slanting words—hmm, in that case, he could no longer casually fob him off with platitudes. At the very least, he had to demonstrate his sincerity. In dealing with a clever man, one must employ the modes and methods that clever men are accustomed to.
"Ziyu, within the imperial court, the talents of surpassing brilliance outnumber me ten to one. I truly dare not spout grandiose nonsense that might mislead the public offices. The Chancellor and the Chief Clerk did not disdain my youth and shallowness but embraced me with a heart as vast as the sea, gathering the words of a hundred schools. I was overwhelmed with trepidation, yet my words are clumsy and often fail to convey my meaning. If Ziyu does not take offense at my rashness, might you follow me for a stroll and observe with your own eyes?" Fei Qian rose and extended an invitation.
Jia Xu also stood and cupped his hands. "In that case, I shall trouble the General of the Household."
Clever people often maintain a skeptical attitude toward the words of others. Even when they hear something, they will usually deliberate over it repeatedly and will never lightly believe it. In the face of most matters, they are accustomed to seeing with their own eyes, hearing with their own ears, and judging for themselves. By doing this, Fei Qian was, on one hand, showing that he was entirely open and hiding nothing, thereby fundamentally removing any breeding ground for suspicion. On the other hand, he was also signaling that he and Jia Xu stood on the same side, so there was no opposition between them—everything could be discussed amicably.
But what was even more important was that Fei Qian believed that the set of methods he was now implementing in Pingyang, even if Jia Xu were to take them wholesale back with him, would be utterly impossible to carry out in Chang'an. Policies, by their very nature, always possess timeliness and regional specificity. They are not something that, simply by being written out point by point, can be implemented without the slightest deviation. The very same regulation or decree could flow unimpeded in Pingyang; but in Chang'an—he he.
Fei Qian led Jia Xu out of the Pingyang county office and along the central avenue toward the eastern part of the city. After more than a month of unceasing clearance and renovation, Pingyang City had at last begun to take on a preliminary semblance of order. The broken stones and bricks along the main street had been replaced. Though not perfectly smooth and even, compared to the dirt roads outside the city, it was more than ten times better. The areas along both sides of the street were the first to be cleared and built up, with some houses erected, and now gradually, a number of people had moved in.
Jia Xu suddenly pointed to a tightly woven bamboo fence at the side and asked, "What is this object used for? Why is it so commonly seen throughout the city?"