The leisurely life of the Qin people

Chapter 30 Shared Experience
Fusu walked under the eaves and looked up at the blue sky. It was so quiet all around that he could even feel the heat of the air when he breathed.

About an hour later, the sunlight was still so strong that it distorted the scenery in the distance.

Fusu turned around and saw Tian An still standing there as if nothing had happened, as if the high temperature had no effect on him at all.

Zhang Canggang handed the document over to the Shaofu, and then said worriedly: "There may be frequent thunderstorms recently."

Tian An nodded in agreement.

The heat came too quickly. The ground was a little wet after the rain, but now it is almost scalding.

Fusu said, "Tell them to start working an hour earlier in the morning and rest well in the afternoon. Ten people form a team. If anyone in any team does not rest and causes trouble, their wages will be deducted and the entire team will be punished."

Tian An received the message and went to give the order.

The young master's management style is very strict. There is a wooden board one person high on this riverbed construction site, and the rules of the riverbed construction site are written on this board.

There are more than 40 rules, including regulations for meals and work, which are so strict that they even stipulate the time for work and when to arrive. No one can be late or leave early without reason.

But food and drink are provided here, although the accommodation is a bit simple.

But if they just want to live there, these 500 laborers have to abide by the rules of living there.

There are rules on how and where to live, and even mutual supervision is required.

Not only that, there are rules even for eating and defecating.

The only good thing is that the laborers here can have one day off every five days, and they can go home on this day.

There was an old man named Heifang, who was considered one of the more prestigious elders among this group of laborers. The young people here called him Fangbo.

"Fang Bo, we can go home tomorrow night."

Hearing this, Hei Fang said with a stern face: "There's more food to eat at home, you might as well stay here."

The young man scratched his messy hair and whispered, "My mother asked me to go back and talk about marriage. We have returned from the battle against the State of Chu. I have military merits, I have land, and my father built a house for me."

A few young people gathered around and talked about things in the past and present.

The Qin people used to be more ferocious than they are now. At that time, if a man or a woman liked someone, they would go into the woods.

When a group of strong young people and old people get together, they inevitably talk about interesting things in this regard.

In fact, Hei Fang is an old man with a very miserable life. He has five sons. Fang Bo's hair and beard are mostly white. He went to fight against the State of Chu with a group of old Qin soldiers.

After returning, the money he gave to his family was not enough to spend. In order to find a good future for his younger son, so that his younger son could study and find a job in Guanzhong in the future, Hei Fang had been looking for a job since he returned with the army.

Hei Fang didn't want his son to fight on the battlefield again. He hoped that his child could learn to read and write and find a writing job in Guanzhong.

Hearing that Prince Fusu could study in Shangyan Mountain, Hei Fang sent his child there. Now the child is raised in Shangyan Mountain. Shangyan Mountain needs to provide food for the children. Hei Fang has to pay five dou of rice every month to allow the child to continue studying in Shangyan Mountain.

Although the skinny Hei Fang had most of his hair and beard white, he was still very strong. His eyes were bright and he looked at everything carefully.

Otherwise, he would not have been in Lao Qin's army for many years.

Hei Fang, who is nearly sixty years old, has a special skill. He can always find useful things among the pile of corpses, and he can also find his fellow villagers among the pile of corpses. His memory is very good. Even if the bodies of his fellow villagers have become fat due to being soaked in water, he can still recognize them, and he will usually not make mistakes when confirming them afterwards.

Therefore, whether among peers or among this group of young people, Black can always get enough respect.

Those who have been in the army for many years, especially the old Qin soldiers like Hei Fang, all had more or less the ability to survive. They were either able to withstand hunger, or they were fast runners and were relatively agile.

Black still remembers when he fought at Changping. He was only seventeen years old at that time. The battle of Changping lasted for a very long time...

The scorching sun was still high overhead, and many laborers were resting under the thatched huts by the riverbed. Some were lying down and sleeping soundly, while others were gathered in groups of three or four, talking.

Everyone works here, and no one would complain that they have too much food, as food is so scarce these days.

I come here to work so that I can eat less of what my family eats and bring more home.

Seeing an official coming, everyone sat down cross-legged. That official was the miser of Xiwei River.

The man said in a loud voice: "The workshop order said that work will not start until the evening."

Everyone nodded and watched the miser go to the next straw hut to speak.

When the wind blew, you could feel the heat wave coming on your face. Everyone sat down, and some continued to sleep.

It was not until the evening when the sun set that work began here.

Even at night, everyone was sweating profusely as they carried the wooden beams.

Zhang Cangshu wrote down his recent observations on the engineering projects. To the young master, a laborer who can work is very precious. They can play a productive role, whether it is building a bridge or farming. The loss of one person is a huge loss.

For the young master, conscripting laborers was not a waste of manpower, as manpower needed to be taken care of, so three doctors were prepared next to the fortifications on the riverbed.

If anyone has heatstroke or is sick, they should seek medical treatment immediately.

If it were someone else, they might give up the job if he fell ill, and then conscript another laborer. But it is different for the young master. If he falls ill, he must be cured and then continue working.

Prince Fusu still loves his people very much. In his words, since food is to be provided, both parties should fulfill the employment relationship.

This allowed Zhang Cang, who had studied the Spring and Autumn Annals for more than 20 years, to gain a lot in this year.

The next day, many laborers took the food back home. They could rest for a day, but had to come back to work the next day.

It’s just one day, Fusu thinks it won’t affect the construction period.

In a small house beside the riverbed, Zhang Cang looked at a huge chart. This was the construction schedule designed by the young master. This chart compared the dates, had the estimated construction progress, and the specific number of people.

The work schedule from June to September has been arranged. Although it is not detailed enough to include the workload of each person, at least people are divided into teams, so we can clearly know what each team is supposed to do.

And on the side it was written who was the censor supervising the construction, who was the Shaofu, and who was the Gongshiling.

The young master even placed the schedule on the bank of the Xiwei River for people to see.

Zhang Cang unexpectedly discovered that the construction of Xianyang Bridge was progressing very quickly, much faster than expected.

If the daily tasks and daily records of the young master are separated, then at least three clerks will be needed to assist him.

"Censor Zhang? Where is the young master?"

Hearing Jianlu's words, Zhang Cang looked at the diagram on the wall and explained, "The Shaofu has prepared a banquet and said he has brought a few beauties with him to drink with you, young master."

Jianlu nodded slightly.

On the other side of the West Wei River, Fusu was drinking the wine brought by Wang Ben.

Wang Ben loved beauties and wine, and Fusu also watched the beauties dancing in front of him, with musicians playing beside them.

Originally, Wang Ben was selecting musicians for the palace, Fusu thought to himself, but he just brought them here to entertain me, the young master?
Fusu took a sip of the wine and said, "Is this the wine of Chu?"

Wang Ben said, "The rice wine of the Chu people is sweet in the mouth and has a strong aftertaste."

Fusu's expression froze, and he slowly put down his wine bowl. It was the season of abundant fruit harvest in Guanzhong, and there were even grapes sent from the Western Regions. Fusu ate the grapes while watching the beauty dance.

As the Shaofu, he also came to inspect the construction progress of Xianyang Bridge.

Late at night, Fusu helped the drunk Wang Ben into the carriage and warned him, "Tomorrow morning, if anyone mentions during the court meeting that the Minister of the Imperial Household was drunk while inspecting Xianyang Bridge today..."

"Don't worry, sir. This matter has nothing to do with you." Wang Ben got on the carriage and said drunkenly, "It has nothing to do with you. Drink!"

Then a group of beauties got on the carriage and took care of the drunk Wang Ben.

Fusu watched the carriage go away with concern, and wanted to tell him that it would be better to tell the truth, because a censor like Chunyu Yue was not easy to deal with.

But it didn't matter. After all, the Wang family had made such great contributions to the Qin Dynasty. Wang Ben knew his limits. He knew that doing so would at most result in a salary deduction and extend the number of years his son would have to guard the border.

But for their family, whose noble honors had reached the pinnacle of their careers, these actions made them seem safer and made the First Emperor feel more at ease.

When Fusu walked back to the small hut at the construction site, he ran into Jianlu.

Jianlu bowed and said, "Sir, the water will be released next month, and the fields downstream need to be irrigated."

"Master Lu will make the arrangements."

"I accept your order."

In mid-June, thunder explosions could be heard every night in Guanzhong.

Due to bad weather, the construction of Xianyang Bridge was delayed.

In the scorching heat, it is impossible to work at noon, and thunderstorms are likely to occur at night, which slows down the progress of the construction work a lot.

Today was the same. Thunder rumbled in the afternoon, lightning flashed across the sky, and heavy rain poured down.

It rained from the afternoon till night.

Because of a rain, construction could not be carried out for most of the day and manpower had to be idle, which was undoubtedly another loss.

The next day, when it is just getting light, you can start working.

Plans always fail to keep up with changes. The Xianyang Bridge, which was originally scheduled to be completed in November, may now be postponed to December.

Today, there is something very important.

In the early morning, when it was just light, Fusu was already sweating profusely, and his collar and back were soaked with sweat.

As people shouted, the embankment of the Xiwei River was dug open.

Fusu looked at the huge amount of water pouring down and looked at the six pillars standing on the riverbed.

First, a huge amount of water hit the pillar. Under the eyes of everyone, the pillar still stood firm until the water flow slowed down and the water level in the river stabilized. The river water circled around the pillar, forming three or two small whirlpools.

Until the small whirlpools disappeared, the pillar standing in the river remained firm.

Fusu, who had completed the project for the first time, held up the bamboo slips in his hand, his wide sleeves falling down his arms, and shouted, "Colorful!"

The civilians also cheered.

Everyone’s efforts over the past month have not been in vain.

If there is any accident during this water release, the construction of Xianyang Bridge will be in a dilemma. Firstly, the fields downstream need to be irrigated, and secondly, the construction of Xianyang Bridge will have to be demolished and rebuilt.

Now it seems that the mission is accomplished.

Fusu almost lived here this month. How could he not be happy when he saw such results?
This is of course a happy thing, people are still cheering, and it makes people feel excited.

Zhang Cang watched this scene with a smile on his face. When people experience something together, they share common joys and sorrows.

Now Zhang Cang understood what the young master had said: "People's labor and struggle can always form magnificent scenery."

Jianlu was indeed a water conservancy expert, he was equivalent to the "chief engineer" of the Xianyang Bridge.

All I, as a young master, do is planning and management.

"Sir, there is a caravan from the Western Regions."

Upon hearing this, Fusu looked up and saw Western merchants pulling goods and several camels on the other side of the river.

Fusu was in a good mood and waved to them with a smile.

The people of the Western Region caravan also saluted the young man who was surrounded by many officials wearing Qin official uniforms.

Well-informed people among these Western Region merchants knew that the person who was in charge of building this bridge was none other than the prince of the Qin Dynasty.

It was the harvest season for fruits and vegetables in the Western Regions, and occasionally there would be merchant caravans from the Western Regions coming to Xianyang to do business.

Perhaps many years later, when the merchant caravans from the Western Regions come to Daqin again, come to the banks of the Xiwei River again, walk on the Xianyang Bridge that spans the two banks of the Xiwei River, and look at the prosperous city of Xianyang, they will remember the young man waving at them here today, this young man who built a powerful empire.

The reason why the young man waved was simply because he was very happy.

Across the West Wei River.

Fusu said to Tian An, "Go buy some fruits and vegetables, so everyone can have a share."

When the young master was happy, Tian An was happy too. He got on his horse and went to buy some fruits.

Jianlu was busy preparing for the construction of the bridge deck. After Tian An brought five carts of fruits and vegetables and everyone had eaten them, they started to work again.

At night, there were torches on both sides of the Xiwei River, indicating that the laborers were still working.

In a small house by the river, Tian An was holding an incense burner and driving away mosquitoes in the house.

Inside the house, the oil lamp was on. Fusu sat at the table, looking at the list of laborers in the light of the oil lamp.

Outside the house came the sound of horse hooves, followed by the creaking of carriage wheels.

When the sound of horse hooves stopped, the creaking of the carriage wheels also stopped.

A small figure walked into the house, carrying a heavy basket. When he got closer, he placed the basket on the table with difficulty, "Brother?"

Fusu looked at his brother Gao and asked, "Why are you here?"

Gao took out some ice cubes from the basket, and then took out the melons. He helped put them in a basin and placed the iced melons on the table. He said, "The emperor gave me this ice. He said that my brother is still building a bridge over the West Wei River, so he asked me to bring it to him."

Fusu ate some iced melon and asked, "How are your studies with Shusun Tong going lately?"

He replied, "The Master said that I am a prince of the Qin Empire and cannot attend lectures with them. However, I want to sit with my friends and listen to Master Shusun Tong's lectures. Is it right for me to do so?"

"Yes." Fusu nodded.

He bowed again and said, "I will go and convince the Master. Don't worry, brother."

(End of this chapter)