Chapter 30: Shared Experiences

Fusu walked under the eaves and looked up at the blue sky; the surroundings were quiet, and one could even feel the heat of the air while breathing.

About an hour later, the sunlight was still as fierce, scorching the distant scenery until it looked distorted.

Fusu turned his head and saw Tian An still standing to the side as if nothing were the matter, as if the high temperature had no effect on him at all.

Zhang Cang had just handed over a document to be delivered to the Lesser Treasury, and then said worriedly, "Recently, I fear there will be many thunderstorms."

Tian An nodded in complete agreement.

This intense heat had come too quickly; the ground, which had been somewhat damp after the rain, was now almost scalding.

Fusu said, "Tell them to start work an hour earlier in the mornings from now on and rest well in the afternoons. Organize them into groups of ten; if anyone in a group causes trouble instead of resting, the troublemaker will have their pay docked, and the entire group will be punished."

Tian An went to give the orders as soon as he received the instruction.

The Prince's method of governance was very strict; there was a wooden board as tall as a person at this riverbed construction site, and what was written on this board were the rules of the riverbed site.

There were over forty rules written in a flowing hand, including standards for eating and working, and it was even so strict that it specified when to work and when to arrive; no one was allowed to be late or leave early without cause.

But food and drink were provided here, even if the living quarters were a bit crude.

Yet, just for the sake of living, these five hundred laborers also had to follow the rules of living.

Regarding this, there were rules for how to live and where to live, and they even had to supervise one another.

Not only that, even eating and relieving themselves had rules.

The only thing that was a bit better was probably that the laborers here could rest one day every five days, and on this day, they could go home.

There was an old man named Heifang, who was considered an elder with relatively high prestige among this group of laborers; the young people here all addressed the old man as Uncle Fang.

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

Hearing this, Heifang kept a straight face and said, "You eat more at home, you're better off here."

The young man scratched his messy hair and whispered, "Mother wants me to go back, saying it's to discuss a marriage. We came back from fighting in the Chu State; I have Military Merit, I have land, and my father built me a house."

Several other young people gathered around, talking about things from the past and the present.

The Old Qin People of the past were even more fierce than they were now; back then, as long as a man and woman among the Old Qin People took a liking to each other, they would slip into the woods.

A group of sturdy young men and the old man gathered together, and as they talked, they inevitably ended up discussing interesting stories of this nature.

In fact, Heifang was a very bitter old man; he had five sons, and Uncle Fang's hair and beard were already more than half white from when he went to fight the Chu State with a group of the Old Qin Army back in the day.

After returning, he gave his pay to his family to spend, but it wasn't enough. In order to secure a good future for his younger sons and to let his youngest son study so he could find a position in Guanzhong in the future, Heifang had been looking for work ever since he returned with the main army.

Heifang did not want his sons to go to the battlefield and risk their lives again; he hoped his children would learn to read and write and find a clerical job in Guanzhong.

Hearing that Prince Fusu's Shangyan Mountain allowed for study, Heifang sent his child there. Now the child was being raised at Shangyan Mountain. Shangyan Mountain required grain to teach the children, and Heifang had to pay five dou of rice every month to keep his child at Shangyan Mountain to study.

Although the gaunt Heifang's hair and beard were more than half white, he was still very strong, and his eyes were very bright, looking at everything very carefully.

Otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to survive for many years in the Old Qin Army.

Nearing sixty, Heifang had a skill: he could always find useful things in piles of dead bodies, and he could also find fellow villagers in piles of dead bodies. His memory was exceptionally good; even if a fellow villager's corpse was bloated from being soaked in water, he could recognize it, and subsequent confirmation often proved he was not wrong.

Therefore, whether among his peers or among this group of young people, Heifang could always command enough respect.

Mixing in the army, especially for an Old Qin Army veteran like Heifang who had been mixing for many years, they all had more or less some skill for survival; either they could endure hunger, or they could run very fast, or they were relatively sharp.

Heifang still remembered that when he was fighting at Changping, he was only seventeen years old, and that battle at Changping lasted a very, very long time...

The scorching sun was still hanging high above their heads, and many laborers were resting under the grass sheds by the riverbed; some were lying down in a deep sleep, while others were gathered in twos and threes talking.

Everyone was working here, and no family would complain about having too much grain; in this day and age, grain was too scarce.

Coming here to work was also to eat one less meal at home and bring a little more back to the family.

Seeing an official walking over, everyone sat down cross-legged one after another; that official was the Shefu of the West Wei River.

The man who arrived said loudly, "The Director of the Office of Works has said to wait until evening to resume work."

Everyone nodded one after another, watching this Shefu go to the next grass shed to speak.

When the wind blew, one could feel the heat wave rushing toward them; everyone sat down one after another, and some continued to sleep.

It was not until evening, when the sun sank to the west, that work resumed here one after another.

Even at night, everyone was sweating profusely while carrying the wooden beams.

Zhang Cang was writing down his insights from observing the project recently; to the Prince, a laborer who could work was very precious. They could exert productive power; whether building bridges or farming, the loss of even one person was a huge loss.

To the Prince, the conscripted laborers were not a consumption of manpower; manpower needed to be taken care of, so three physicians were prepared at the side of the riverbed construction site.

If anyone suffered from heatstroke or fell ill, they were to be treated immediately.

If it were someone else, they might just abandon the sick person and then go conscript another laborer, but it was different for the Prince; if they were sick, they had to be cured, and then they would continue to work.

Prince Fusu was still very benevolent to the people; in the Prince's words, since grain was being provided, both the employer and the employee were fulfilling an employment relationship.

This made Zhang Cang, who had read the Spring and Autumn Annals for over twenty years, gain a great deal in this past year.

The next day, many laborers took their grain and went back; they could rest for one day, but they had to come back to work the next day.

It was only one day, and Fusu felt that this would not affect the construction period.

In a small hut by the riverbed, Zhang Cang looked at a huge chart; this was the construction schedule designed by the Prince. This chart compared dates, had the expected construction progress, and the specific number of people.

The construction schedule from the sixth month to the ninth month had already been arranged; although it was not detailed to the workload of every individual, at least the people were divided into groups, and it was clear what each group needed to do.

And on the side, it was written who the supervising Censor was, who the Lesser Treasury was, and who the Director of the Office of Works was.

The Prince even placed this construction schedule by the side of the West Wei River for people to see.

Zhang Cang discovered unexpectedly that the construction progress of Xianyang Bridge was very fast, much faster than anticipated.

If the things the Prince had to do every day and the daily records were separated, then at least three more clerks would be needed to assist.

"Censor Zhang? Where is the Prince?"

Hearing Jian Lu's voice, Zhang Cang looked at the chart on the wall and explained, "The Lesser Treasury has prepared a banquet, saying they have also brought a few beauties to drink with the Prince."

Jian Lu nodded slightly.

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

Wang Bi loved beauties and wine, and Fusu also watched these beauties dancing before him, with musicians playing on the side.

Fusu thought to himself, Wang Bi was originally selecting musicians for the palace, was he just bringing them along to relieve this Prince's boredom?

Fusu took a sip of wine and said, "Is this wine from Chu?"

Wang Bi said, "Chu rice wine tastes sweet, but it has quite a kick."

Fusu's expression turned stern, and he slowly set down his wine bowl.

It was the season for a bountiful harvest of fruits in Guanzhong, and there were even grapes sent from the Western Regions; Fusu ate grapes while watching the beauties dance.

As the Minister of the Lesser Treasury, he still had to inspect the construction progress of Xianyang Bridge.

Not until the night grew deep did Fusu help the drunken Wang Bi onto a carriage and urge him, "At tomorrow's morning court, if anyone mentions during the Court Discussion that the Minister of the Lesser Treasury was drunk while inspecting Xianyang Bridge today..."

"Prince, rest assured, this matter has nothing to do with the Prince." Wang Bi sat on the carriage, still drunkenly saying, "Nothing to do with the Prince, drink!"

Afterward, a group of beauties boarded the carriage to look after the drunken Wang Bi.

Fusu watched the carriage drive away with worry; he had wanted to tell him it was best to tell the truth, as Censors like Chunyu Yue were not easy to deal with.

But never mind, who let the Wang family have such great merit to Great Qin; Wang Bi had a sense of proportion, and he knew that doing this would at most result in a fine of some salary and an extension of his son's border defense service.

But for their family, whose noble glory had already reached the pinnacle for a subject, such behavior actually made their family seem safer and made the First Emperor more at ease.

Fusu walked back to the hut at the construction site and ran into Jian Lu.

Jian Lu bowed and said, "Prince, the water will be released next month; the fields downstream need irrigation."

"Master Craftsman Lu, just make the arrangements."

"I obey your command."

In mid-June, every night, thunderclaps in Guanzhong followed one after another.

Because the weather was not very good, the construction of Xianyang Bridge was bumpy and difficult.

In the sweltering heat, it was impossible to work at noon, and at night it was easy to encounter thunderstorms, which slowed the progress of the project significantly.

Today was the same; in the afternoon, thunder rolled, lightning streaked across the sky, and the heavy rain poured down.

A rainstorm lasted from the afternoon until the night.

Because of one rainstorm, construction could not be done for most of the day, and manpower could only be left idle, which was undoubtedly another loss.

On the second day, only when the sky was just beginning to brighten could they rush the work.

Plans could never keep up with changes; the Xianyang Bridge, originally scheduled to be completed in November, might now have to be postponed to December.

Today, there was a very important matter.

At dawn, when the sky was just barely light, Fusu was already sweating profusely, his sweat soaking his collar and back.

Following the loud shouts of the people, the dam of the West Wei River was dug open.

Fusu watched the massive volume of water pour down, his gaze fixed on the six pillars standing in the riverbed.

First, the massive volume of water struck the pillars; under everyone's gaze, the pillars remained standing, and until the water flow slowed and the river level stabilized, there was still river water circling the pillars, forming two or three small whirlpools.

Until those small whirlpools also disappeared, the pillars standing in the river remained stable.

Fusu, having completed this project for the first time, held the Bamboo Slip in his hand, his wide sleeves falling along his arms, and shouted, "Bravo!"

The laborers also cheered.

Everyone's efforts over this past month had not been in vain.

If there had been any accident during this water release, the construction of Xianyang Bridge would have fallen into a dilemma: on one hand, the fields downstream needed irrigation, and on the other, the work on Xianyang Bridge would have to be torn down and started over.

Now it seemed, the great task was accomplished.

This month, Fusu had almost lived here; seeing such results, how could he not be happy?

This was certainly happy; people were still cheering, which also made one's heart burn with fervor.

Zhang Cang watched this scene with a smile on his face; when people have experienced things together, they have shared joys and sorrows.

Now Zhang Cang understood what the Prince had once said, "People's labor and struggle can always form magnificent scenes."

Jian Lu was indeed a master of water conservancy; he was equivalent to the "Chief Engineer" of Xianyang Bridge.

And he himself, as a Prince, had only done the planning and management.

"Prince, there is a Western Regions merchant caravan."

Hearing this, Fusu looked up and saw the Western Regions merchants on the opposite bank pulling goods, along with several camels.

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

And the people of the Western Regions merchant caravan also bowed toward the young man surrounded by numerous officials wearing Great Qin official robes.

Among these Western Regions merchants, those who were well-informed knew that the person presiding over the construction of this bridge was a Prince of Great Qin.

It was the season for the harvest of fruits in the Western Regions, and occasionally Western Regions merchant caravans would come to Xianyang to trade.

Perhaps many years later, when a Western Regions merchant caravan came to Great Qin again, came to the side of the West Wei River again, walked onto the Xianyang Bridge spanning the two banks of the West Wei River, and looked out at the prosperous Xianyang City, they would remember the young man who waved at them here today; this young man had built a powerful empire.

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

The opposite bank of the West Wei River.

Fusu said to Tian An, "Go buy some fruits, everyone gets a share."

The Prince was happy, so Tian An was happy too; he mounted his horse and went to buy the fruits.

Jian Lu had to be busy preparing for the construction of the bridge deck; after Tian An brought back five carts of fruits and everyone had finished eating them, they began to work again.

At night, there were patches of torches on both banks of the West Wei River, as the laborers were still working.

Inside the hut by the river, Tian An was carrying an incense burner to drive away the mosquitoes in the room.

Inside the room, the oil lamp was lit, and Fusu sat by the table, using the light of the oil lamp to look at the roster of laborers.

The sound of horse hooves came from outside, 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 room; he was carrying a heavy basket, and when he reached the front, he laboriously placed the basket on the table, "Brother?"

Fusu looked at his younger brother Gao and asked, "Why have you come?"

Gao took some ice cubes out of the basket, then took out the melon, helped to put them in a basin, and placed the chilled melon on the table, saying, "The ice was bestowed by Father Emperor; Father Emperor said that Brother is still building a bridge at the West Wei River, so he let Gao bring it."

Fusu ate the chilled melon and asked, "How have your studies with Shusun Tong been lately?"

He replied, "The Master says that Gao is a Prince of Great Qin and cannot attend classes with them, but Gao wants to sit with those friends and listen to Master Shusun Tong lecture; is Gao doing the right thing?"

"Yes," Fusu nodded.

He bowed again and said, "I will go persuade the Master; Brother need not worry."

(End of this chapter)