Chapter 396: Doing It Personally
Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation
At first, everyone didn’t quite believe Su Ying’s words because they couldn’t imagine how the mother of a whole state could blow up a rock mountain just like that.
However, when they followed Su Ying to the foot of the rock mountain and saw the scattered big boulders on the ground, everyone was so shocked that they couldn’t speak.
“What are you guys waiting for? Hurry up and move them.”
Everyone looked in the direction of the voice and saw Su Ying walking forward while carrying a large rock that was several times heavier than her with both hands.
The commoners felt that their eyes must be playing tricks on them. No doubt about it. Otherwise, how could a woman lift such a large rock effortlessly?
Su Ying ignored them and moved the big boulders onto the transportation carts directly. After filling the cart with big boulders, she instructed someone to push it away.
However, she realized that it was too slow to pull these big boulders by human labor. She had to use animals.
Su Ying summoned the minor official in charge.
“Send someone down the mountain and borrow all the ox carts and livestock that can be used. Pay them ten copper coins for each day of use. Pay them at once when the work is done. Go quickly.”
The minor official could also tell that Su Ying wasn’t joking when she wanted people to backfill the river diversion opening, so he immediately went to look for people and beasts of burden after receiving the order.
Very soon, moderate rainfall poured down from the sky. The rain gradually became heavier and heavier, forming a curtain of rain that made it hard for everyone to open his eyes.
Su Ying frowned and said to the workers who were still moving the rocks, “Those with health problems, go to the stone pit in front to shelter from the rain. The rest who can still work carry on.”
Upon hearing Su Ying’s words, some of the workers started to look for a place to rest. Normally, they couldn’t do anything under such heavy rain.
However, after they sat down, they saw that Su Ying had no intention of stopping.
The bean-sized raindrops pelted Su Ying’s body until her robe was soaked through, but she didn’t even blink.
If they hadn’t seen it with their own eyes, the workers wouldn’t dare to believe that the noble mother of a whole state was carrying rocks in this godforsaken place with them, the poor commoners.
“Even Her Imperial Highness didn’t stop. How can we have the gall to rest?”
“That’s right. Let’s go and move the rocks.”
Gradually, the workers who went to rest stood up and started moving the rocks again.
Su Ying wasn’t aware of the changes in the workers’ mindsets. She only felt that compared to those workers, her work efficiency was higher, so she was even more unwilling to stop. She only wanted to block the river diversion opening as soon as possible to eliminate future problems.
Due to the rain, the sky darkened exceptionally quickly. The torches could not be lit, and the surroundings became pitch-black.
The minor official returned with the beasts of burden and saw that Su Ying was still moving the rocks. He braved the rain and went forward to say, “Your Imperial Highness, it’s already dark now. Why don’t you go down the mountain to rest first? Leave the big boulders here to us. We’ll move them.”
Su Ying shook her head. “The heavier the rain and the longer it lasts, the faster the water flow will be. The pressure upstream will increase. We have to use the shortest time to block the opening, even if it means we don’t sleep.”
The minor official looked at Su Ying’s determined expression and felt a strange emotion in his heart.
The Empress did not even rest, so what right did they have to complain about being tired? “Everyone, listen up. If your body can’t take it, go home first. If you can take it, stay and continue working.”
The workers were all moved by Su Ying’s actions, and no one left this time.
Su Ying had great strength, so she was mainly responsible for carrying the large boulders that the workers couldn’t lift onto the carts. The rest of the workers used beasts of burden to pull the large boulders to the opening and dump them into the water.
When the villagers at the foot of the mountain heard that the Empress had personally come down to move the rocks, they ran up the mountain before the break of dawn to watch the spectacle.
From what they knew, how could a noblewoman like the Empress appear in this poor, remote village, let alone move rocks with the workers?
“Your Imperial Highness, you’ve been working for one day and one night. Why don’t you take a break? The villagers sent you breakfast early in the morning when they knew you were here. Please go and have something to eat.” The minor official’s eyes became re-rimmed as he looked at Su Ying.
Su Ying saw that a lot of the rocks that were blasted out had been transported away, so she stopped and walked towards the pit where she could shelter from the rain.
“Greetings, Your Imperial Highness. Greetings, Your Imperial Highness.”
As soon as Su Ying appeared, the commoners waiting there all knelt down and kowtowed to her.
Su Ying frowned slightly and said, “Rise, everyone. The roads in the mountains are muddy. If you’re not here to move rocks, then go back, in case there’s an accident in the mountains.”
“It is really the Empress. This really is the Empress. She looks like a fairy.”
“How dare you. The Empress’s noble face is not something you are allowed to see.”
The villagers discussed animatedly.
The minor official handed the dry food to Su Ying brought by the villagers. “Your Imperial Highness, we don’t have anything good to eat here. Hope you can make do with this first.”
The villagers sent some corn pancakes and a bowl of boiled eggs. No one touched the bowl of eggs. Everyone ate the corn pancakes instead.
Although Su Ying had been spoilt rotten by Hea Shouyi’s cooking so much that she had become a little picky with food, she had never looked down on food that was edible.
“All of you eat more. If it’s not enough, get people to send more up. Only when you’re full will you have the strength to work.”
“Yes, Your Imperial Highness.”
Su Ying took a bite of the corn pancake. The cornmeal was quite smooth and didn’t make her throat ache. She ate an entire basket of corn pancakes and quite a few eggs before standing up.
“Your Imperial Highness, why don’t you rest for a while?”
Su Ying waved her hand nonchalantly. “We must make haste.”
Su Ying pulled the ox cart and tipped another cart of rocks into the river diversion opening. She then took a bamboo pole from the side and stuck it down to check the situation.
“How deep did they dig the diversion opening?”
“About twenty feet.”
Twenty feet was about six to seven meters high after conversion. The rocks they moved last night were far from enough. At this point, they had only filled up the bottom part at most.
“Go back and continue to move the rocks. Don’t stop moving the mud either. Dump the rocks in together with the mud”
“Yes, Your Imperial Highness.”
The minor official went to the nearby village and found many workers. They could not farm in this season, and it was difficult for them to find work in the city. Now, they could get ten copper coins a day if they came here to work. The villagers followed the minor official without hesitation.
With more manpower, the efficiency of the backfilling became much higher. For three days, Su Ying worked with everyone here to move the rocks. Only when almost all the rocks that she had blasted out were transported away did they see some result in the backfilling operation.
Standing at the river diversion opening, Su Ying could vaguely see the rocks in the water. However, due to the intermittent heavy rain these few days, more water came down from the mountain.
“Your Imperial Highness, almost all the mountain rocks here have been transported away. Do you want to get some more? What do you think is the most suitable level to backfill this opening to?”
Su Ying furrowed her brows and said, “The impact of the mountain torrents is very strong. Not only do we have to fill the rocks up high, but we also have to fill up the foundation below more firmly. It should be done in two more days. After we have moved all the rocks here, I’ll go elsewhere to see if there are any suitable rock mountains.”
“Oh, yes, yes. But blowing up a rock mountain is really too dangerous.. Why don’t you let me and my men go instead?”
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