Chapter 35: Qin Has No Shoddy Construction Projects

"It's the Yue punishment — foot amputation."

Dongmen Bao was also nearby. He set down the iron spade in his hands and said, "He probably refused to accept being a penal laborer and tried to escape. I've heard that for a lifetime wall-builder convict like this, the first escape attempt gets your toes chopped off, the second gets your left foot cut off, and the third..."

"The third time, you're dead for sure..."

Heifu sucked in a breath of cold air. The Chu bandit was covered in mud and crisscrossed with wounds — probably just dragged back after being caught. The guy really could run, still trying to flee even without his left foot.

Dongmen Bao sighed as well. "I truly admire his stubbornness. If it were me, without a left foot, I'd have surely lost all hope and accepted my fate."

"Or maybe he was just seeking death." Heifu didn't know what he himself ought to feel. Guilt? Not to that extent. Sympathy? A little. But more than anything, he was simply relieved that he wasn't that Chu bandit.

Then they saw the shaman priestess and the County Sikong bring the footless Chu bandit to the corner of the city wall that Heifu and the others had just finished repairing. The shaman priestess chanted under her breath, now looking up at the sky, now prostrating herself on the ground, muttering mysteriously — apparently performing some kind of ritual...

"What's this about?" Heifu felt a twinge of unease.

Old Chao, standing nearby, seemed to have witnessed a similar scene before. After a moment of reflection, he said slowly, "The wall is finished. They will use this man as a sacrifice, burying him inside the wall to pray to the local lake gods and mountain spirits, beseeching them to keep the wall sturdy and standing for a hundred years!"

At these words, the young rotational conscripts were all startled, and Heifu was inwardly shaken.

"Could it be that the story of Wan Xiliang being buried in the Great Wall, though a false legend, actually has similar real events behind it?"

Heifu knew that although the Legalist school dominating Qin leaned toward atheism — believing that relying on heaven and earth is not as good as relying on oneself and the law — among the common people of Qin, from the loess plateau of Guanzhong and Longshang to the Jianghan shores by Yunmeng Marsh, superstition still ran extremely deep.

This was especially true in Nan Commandery, formerly Chu territory, where shamanism and ghost worship flourished. Although the Governor of Nan Commandery denounced it in official dispatches as "depraved and perverse customs," in practice, even Qin government offices sacrificed to a great many deities — for instance, the three officially worshiped spirit shamans: Wu Xian, Dachen Jueqiu, and Yatuo. Anlu County also had Chu deities recognized by the authorities, such as the Lord Within the Clouds, the Greater Master of Fate, and the Lesser Master of Fate. Temples and altars could be seen everywhere inside and outside the town.

Even tiny Quyang Lake had its own "Lord of Quyang." Although Qin no longer permitted throwing young boys and girls into the lake as offerings, whenever a wall was built or a road was constructed, they would still occasionally execute one or two condemned prisoners as sacrifices...

In the end, the Chu bandit, having endured the torment of losing his foot, was like a dog or a pig — his throat was slit and he was killed on the spot. The person who did it was swift and clean, sparing him further suffering. His blood flowed into Quyang Lake, dyeing a corner of the lake red, reflecting the crimson evening clouds in the sky in mutual splendor.

Then, amid the ritual conducted by that feather-clad shaman priestess, a bronze arrowhead was embedded in the Chu bandit's chest. To the sound of a long, drawn-out chant, everyone hurriedly lifted his corpse and carried it to a gap deliberately left at the corner of the city wall, sealing it up with earth bricks...

From then on, his flesh and blood would meld together with this wall, drying out, decaying, only able to see the light of day again when the next age of chaos came and the wall bricks peeled away.

Only at this point was this section of the city wall truly considered complete.

That night, the County Sikong, who had kept a stern face for the past half month, finally revealed a smile. He had the cook boil a pot of meat broth for the rotational conscripts, letting everyone eat their fill, and also called the squad leaders of every squad together to express his thanks to them...

"Over the past half month, the conscripts' labor has been heavy, and there has been much grumbling. It is only thanks to you gentlemen's proper discipline that the wall was completed on schedule."

From the County Sikong's subsequent account, Heifu learned that this chief overseer had not had it easy either. Qin had a specific "Statute on Sikong" targeting civil engineering projects, and it was meticulous down to the finest detail — even the wastage rates for building materials like wall molds and crossbeams, and the specifications and quantities for every single meal of the conscripts and convict laborers, were all explicitly stipulated.

In Qin, to think of skimming profits from it like certain later-era labor contractors? Dream on!

What frightened the County Sikong even more was that another statute, the "Statute on Corvée," also required that if, before starting work, he misestimated the labor needed for the project, causing the construction period to be exceeded by more than two days, he would be punished for "failure to inspect."

That was why, in the preceding days, the County Sikong had kept a stern face and demanded extremely high construction quality. Although it hadn't reached the level of later eras — like Helian Bobo building Tongwan City and killing anyone if a awl could be driven one inch into the wall — it was close enough. Slacking convict laborers were whipped within an inch of their lives.

Fortunately, Heifu and the others' work period was successfully completed on this day, the twenty-ninth of the tenth month!

But just as Heifu and the others breathed a sigh of relief, the County Sikong took a sip of meat broth and then gave a bitter smile. "Gentlemen, do not think that finishing the wall means the matter is done. For the next year, if any problem arises with this wall, we shall still be held accountable!"

It turned out that Qin civil engineering projects had a "warranty period." The overseer and the labor force who built the wall were responsible for their own section. If a quality problem arose within one year, causing the wall to crack or collapse, the conscripts responsible for building it would be hauled back to repair it, and the warranty period would not count toward their corvée service time!

"That harsh!"

Heifu couldn't help but click his tongue. He could only pray that the Chu bandit embedded in the city wall would actually be of some use — that next year's rains wouldn't be too heavy, and the lake water wouldn't rise too high. Otherwise, he'd be in trouble. This corvée labor was truly bitter; Heifu already had no desire to serve a second term.

But on second thought, if this "accountability and warranty" system could have been passed down to later ages, disgraceful affairs like rainbow bridges collapsing or high-rises cracking a month after completion wouldn't be so rampant. At least in Qin, everyone could beat their chest and vow: "Our Great Qin has no shoddy construction projects!" — even though tofu hadn't even been invented in this era yet.

Heifu knew that because the rammed earth was pounded so solidly, the surviving sections of Qin straight roads still had difficulty growing grass two thousand years later.

Dujiangyan, the Ling Canal, and other projects completed in the Qin era basically retained their original form even in modern times, and some were even still in use.

Easier said than done.

But the question was, with productivity so backward, how much blood and sweat of conscripts and convict laborers had to be spilled to meet such standards?

That night, Heifu lay in the temporary shed beneath the city wall, unable to fall asleep for a long time. Outside, the cold wind blew with a moaning sound, as if it were the Chu bandit sealed within the wall lamenting.

It had been over a month since he arrived in this era. Here, he had witnessed the rigor and precision of Qin law, and how Qin officials steered this state's efficient operation — just as Xunzi had observed when he entered Qin: "Its common people are simple; its music is not lewd; its attire is not frivolous; they greatly fear the authorities and are obedient. In its cities and government offices, its many officials are solemn, none failing to be respectful, frugal, sincere, loyal, and not negligent..." At least, most were like that. It had to be said, Qin law was indeed a pioneering creation ahead of its time.

But Heifu had also seen the other side that Xunzi had not witnessed. This was still an era saturated with brutality everywhere. For the common folk, life was fraught with hardship and danger at every turn; one careless violation of the law meant severe punishment, with no possibility of ever turning things around. The proportion of convict laborers in Qin, though not to the extent of filling the streets, was still high enough.

Advancement and savagery danced together; humanity and ruthlessness coexisted. This was the Qin that Heifu perceived — the real Qin, not as unbearably sordid as later slanders painted it, nor as splendidly perfect as Qin enthusiasts trumpeted...

Tossing and turning like this until late into the night, Heifu finally drifted off into a groggy sleep.

The next day, having finally endured until the end of the work period, Heifu and the others were all called over by the County Sikong to sign a wooden board document. It was stamped with the official seal of the government office, certifying that this term of corvée service was complete. This was called a "zhi."

The County Sikong said that this document would be split in two: one half sent ahead to their household registration location, and the other half for the conscripts to carry themselves — and they absolutely must not lose it.

You claim on your own that you've returned from service? That doesn't count; you must have certification issued by the authorities.

If a recruited conscript returned to his hometown and was then found to have fled back on his own, he would be punished with four months of hard labor on the frontier... So, don't think about shirking or cutting corners. Better be honest — serving corvée is an obligation every Qin citizen must fulfill.

After completing these formalities, they returned to the training grounds to reassemble. Centurion Chen counted the heads once more before announcing that this corvée service was concluded; they were to leave the training grounds before nightfall.

The members of Squad Gui breathed a sigh of relief and congratulated one another on the smooth conclusion of this service, planning to arrange traveling together with those going the same way home.

But just then, Centurion Chen, with an amiable expression, called out to stop Heifu, saying that the County Right Lieutenant had business with him!

PS: If the wall is not yet completed and collapses, the Sikong, the foreman, and the gentlemen in charge of the wall shall be held guilty, and order their convict laborers to rebuild the wall — this shall not be counted as corvée. — "Statute on Corvée"

Burying a person in the city wall as a sacrifice is not a fabrication. At the southern wall corner of the ancient city at Liye, the skeletal remains of a male convict laborer who had suffered punishment were indeed excavated, placed there as a sacrificial offering.

(End of Chapter)