The Great Qin Empire---Qin Li

"It's the punishment of cutting off one's feet."

Dongmen Bao was also nearby, and put down the iron hoe in his hand and said: "He probably didn't want to be a prisoner and tried to escape. I heard that prisoners like this who are sentenced to life imprisonment will have their toes cut off the first time they run, their left feet cut off the second time they run, and the third time they run..."

"The third time they run, they will definitely die..."

Hei Fu took a breath of cold air, and saw that the Chu bandit was covered with mud and scars. He must have just been caught. This guy can really run. He tried to escape even without his left foot.

Dongmen Bao also sighed: "I really admire this man's stubbornness. If it were me, I would definitely be discouraged and accept my fate without my left foot."

"It may also be that he just wants to die." Hei Fu didn't know what emotion he should have. Guilt? Not really. Sympathy? A little, but more, just glad that he was not the Chu bandit.

However, the witch and the county governor brought the footless Chu bandit to the corner of the wall that Heifu and his team had just built. The witch was muttering something, looking up at the sky, and then lying on the ground, mumbling something, as if he was doing some ritual...

"What is this for?" Heifu felt a little uneasy.

Chao Bo, who was standing by, seemed to have seen a similar scene. After a pause, he slowly said: "After the wall is built, this person will be used as a sacrifice and buried inside the wall. Pray to the local lake gods and mountain ghosts to bless the wall to be strong and last for a hundred years!"

When these words came out, the young guards were all shocked, and Heifu was even more shocked.

"Could it be that although Wan Xiliang was buried in the Great Wall, although it was a rumor, there was a similar thing that happened?"

Heifu knew that although the Legalists who dominated the Qin State tended to be atheists, they believed that relying on heaven and earth was not as good as relying on oneself and the law. But among the people of Qin, from the Loess Plateau on the Guanzhong Longshan to the banks of the Yangtze and Han Rivers by the Yunmeng Lake, superstition is still very strong.

Especially in Nanjun, which was once the former site of the Chu State, witchcraft and ghosts are prevalent. Although the governor of Nanjun denounced this as "lewd and vulgar" in official documents, in fact, even the Qin government also worshipped a large number of gods, such as the three official witches Wuxian, Dachenjueqiu and Yatuo. Anlu County also has Chu gods such as "Yunzhongjun", "Da Siming" and "Shao Siming" recognized by the government. Temples and altars can be seen everywhere in and outside the city.

Even the small Quyang Lake has a "Quyangjun". Although the Qin State does not allow young boys and girls to be thrown into the lake as sacrifices, every time a city is built or a road is repaired, one or two death row prisoners will be killed from time to time for sacrifice...

In the end, the Chu bandit, who was tortured by having his feet cut off, was killed on the spot by having his throat cut like a dog or a pig. The person who did it was clean and neat, and he didn't suffer any more pain. The blood flowed into Quyang Lake, dyeing a corner of the lake red, and shining with the red sunset in the sky.

Then, in the ceremony held by the witch wearing feathers, a copper arrowhead was embedded in the chest of the Chu bandit. Amid the long singing, the body of the Chu bandit was carried by everyone to the gap specially left at the corner of the city wall and sealed with earth bricks...

His flesh and blood will be condensed with this city wall from now on, dry and decay, and can only see the light of day again when the bricks fall off in the next chaotic world.

At this point, this section of the city wall is truly completed.

That night, the county Sikong, who had been stern for half a month, finally smiled. He asked the kitchen to cook a pot of meat soup for the night watchmen so that everyone could have a full meal. He also called the heads of each group together to thank them...

"In the past half month, the night watchmen had a lot of work and complained a lot. Thanks to the proper discipline of the two or three sons, the city wall was completed on time."

In the subsequent narration of the county Sikong, Heifu realized that it was not easy for this chief foreman. The Qin State had a special "Sikong Law" for civil engineering, which was so meticulous that even the loss of building materials such as templates and crossbeams for building walls, and the specifications and quantities of each meal for night watchmen and prisoners were clearly stipulated.

In the Qin State, imagine making a profit by manipulating it like some contractors in later generations? Dream on!

What scares the county Sikong even more is that another "Corvée Law" also requires that if he miscalculates the labor required for the project before starting the construction, causing the construction time to exceed the deadline by more than two days, he will be punished for "inadvertence".

So a few days ago, the county Sikong had a stern face and had extremely high requirements for the quality of the project. Although it was not to the extent of Helian Bobo's later construction of Tongwan City, he would kill people if he pierced an inch with a needle, but it was almost the same. The lazy prisoners were beaten to death.

Fortunately, Heifu and his team completed the construction period on October 29th!

But just when Heifu and others breathed a sigh of relief, the county Sikong drank a mouthful of meat soup and smiled bitterly: "Don't think that the wall is finished. In the next year, if there is a problem with the wall, we will still be held accountable!"

It turned out that the civil engineering of Qin had a "warranty period", and the foreman and the labor force who built the city were responsible for the section they built. If there is a quality problem within a year, causing the wall to crack and collapse, the guard responsible for the construction will be caught and repaired again, and the warranty period does not count the time you serve in corvée!

"So cruel!"

Heifu was shocked and could only pray that the Chu bandit embedded in the wall could really be useful, so that the rain next year would not be too heavy and the lake water would not rise too high, otherwise he would be in trouble. This corvée is really hard, and Heifu doesn't want to serve it a second time.

But if you think about it carefully, if this "accountability warranty" system can be passed down to later generations, things like the collapse of the Rainbow Bridge and the cracking of high-rise buildings one month after completion would not be so rampant. At least in the Qin State, everyone can pat their chests and guarantee: "There is no shoddy construction in my Great Qin!" - Although tofu has not been invented in this era.

Heifu knows that because the rammed earth is too strong, it will be difficult for grass to grow on the remaining sections of the Qin Straight Road after two thousand years.

Dujiangyan, Lingqu and other Qin Dynasty projects have basically maintained their original appearance in modern times, and are even still in use.

It's easier said than done.

But the question is, with such backward productivity, how much blood and sweat of guards and prisoners will be shed to achieve this standard?

That night, Heifu lay in a temporary shack under the city wall, unable to fall asleep for a long time. The cold wind outside was howling, as if the Chu bandit embedded in the city wall was crying.

It has been more than a month since he came to this era. Here, he witnessed the rigor and precision of Qin law. Qin officials controlled the efficient operation of this country, just as Xunzi saw when he entered Qin: "The people are simple, their music is not dirty, their clothes are not frivolous, and they are very afraid of the officials and obey. The capital government, its hundreds of officials are solemn, all of them are respectful, frugal, respectful, loyal and trustworthy..." At least, most of them are like this. It must be said that Qin law is indeed a pioneering work ahead of the times.

But Heifu also saw another side that Xunzi could not see. This was still an era full of barbarism. For ordinary people, life was difficult and dangerous. If they accidentally broke the law, they would be severely punished and would never be able to turn over. Although the proportion of prisoners in Qin was not so high that they were everywhere on the streets, it was high enough.

Advancement and barbarism danced together, humanity and ruthlessness coexisted. This was the Qin that Heifu felt, the real Qin, not as unbearable as later generations smeared, nor as beautiful as Qin fans advocated...

Heifu fell asleep in a daze until late at night.

On the next day, they finally made it to the end of the work period. Heifu and his men were called by the county Sikong to sign a wooden document with the official seal on it, proving that the service period had expired. This was called "zhi".

The county Sikong said that this document would be divided into two, one to be sent to the place of household registration in advance, and the other to be kept by the night watchmen themselves, and never lost.

You claimed to be back from service? That doesn't count. There must be a certificate issued by the government.

If the volunteered night guard returns to his hometown and is found to have escaped privately, he will be punished to serve hard labor in the border for four months... So, don't think about being cunning, just be honest, serving is the obligation that every citizen of Qin must fulfill.

After completing these procedures, they returned to the parade ground to regroup. General Chen Bai counted the number of people again before announcing that the service was over and they had to leave the parade ground before tonight.

The people of Guishi breathed a sigh of relief, congratulated each other on the successful completion of the service, and planned to meet up with those who were going the same way to go home together.

But at this moment, General Chen Bai stopped Heifu with a pleasant face and said that the county right lieutenant had something to ask him!

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